GTA: Twin Tales 2
by Schmoke
Summary: Two tales in one story. A reimagining of GTA 2 but with a more complex story. The first tale is set mainly in 2030 but begins in 2019. The second tale is set between 1999 and 2025. TWO NEW CHAPTERS UP 18.5.06! REVIEWS WELCOME!
1. Introduction

**GTA: Twin Tales 2**

**Introduction**

This is a Grand Theft Auto fanfic. I don't own any of the characters apart from the ones that are not in any GTA game. The story is split into two tales.

The first tale is set mainly in 2030, but the very beginning takes place in 2019. I don't want to spoil too much of the story.

The second tale is set over the years 1999-2025 in Liberty City and the secret fourth city; again I don't want to spoil too much.

Here are the cities in the story:

Liberty City, Liberty – The city where the beginning of both stories take place.

Shirago, Ritchigan – A take on Chicago, very briefly heard of at the beginning.

Capitol City – A take on Washington DC, heard of in some parts of the story.

A fourth city – You'll have to read on to find out but this is where a bulk of the story takes place.

**Note: **Claude Speed is NOT the main character in GTA 3 or the character that appears in GTA: San Andreas. If you've read GTA: Twin Tales you'll find out that he doesn't have a name and his nickname is Fido but when he was younger his friends called him Claude. So that explains why Catalina shouts out the name Claude, he must've told Catalina that was him name, knowing he didn't have a name. He actually meets Claude Speed's dad Vince Speed in Shirago and Vince is inspired by Fido's nickname naming his son after that.


	2. Tale 1 Chapter 1 The Unlucky Escape

**Chapter 1 – The Unlucky Escape**

Liberty City was once a golden city for gang's way back in the early part of the 21st Century. Now there was no Mafia left in Liberty City since the Forelli's had no living sons after Mike Forelli had been blown up in a car bomb in 2001 and Joey Leone of the Leone Family Mafia was shot in Shirago in 2002.

Now in 2019 Liberty City was as full of criminals as it ever was. One of these criminals was Claude Speed. Claude Speed had a plan to make the largest robbery ever at the Bank of Liberty in the Ghost Town with his three friends Bob, Lee and Sanchez.

_Claude Speed, Shoreside Vale, Liberty City, 2019_

"Have you took Equinox 4.0 and loved it" the radio said "well guess what, there's a new Equinox from Zaibatsu Pharmaceuticals, Equinox 5.0, Equinox 5.0 is new and improved which can cure even more illnesses, Ask your doctor about Equinox 5.0… today"

Then suddenly the voice speeded up "Equinox 5.0 may cause nausea, loss of sleep, blurred vision, leakage, kidney problems and breathing irregularities. Do not take Equinox 5.0 if you are operating any machinery, driving a car, pregnant, a child of low age, unhappy or if your family has a history of mental disorders,"

"Equinox 5.0, softening life's harsh realities!" the radio finally said

Suddenly Claude turned the radio off.

"What are you doing?" Bob asked "I was listening to that"

"What, you were listening to a commercial" Claude said

"Yeah, anyway Chatterbox was coming back on" Bob said

"I've been listening to that since I was five" Claude said "and it has never got any different, still the same old crap, someone phones in and Lazlow insults them, repeat, anyway I don't want to be calmed down before I make the biggest robbery ever"

"I'm going to get that Equinox 5.0 soon" Bob said

"You're kidding me, right" Claude said

"No, I've got the last three Equinoxes'" Bob said "what's wrong with it?"

"What's right with it more like" Claude said "firstly I don't like how many side affects Equinox gives you and secondly I don't particularly think much of the owner of Zaibatsu, it's owned by some half-Cuban gangster named Red Valdez"

"Yes, but it's not developed by Red Valdez, it's developed by a Dr. LaBrat" Bob said

"That doesn't matter" Claude said "I won't trust pharmaceuticals made by gangsters, I've heard bad stories about him"

"Hey will you two stop arguing" Lee said

"Yeah homies, ya making me nervous" Sanchez said

The blue Kuruma was parked just on the grassy knoll beside the tunnel to Ghost Town. Lee who had tanned skin and had shaved his head so a centimetre of hair remained, and he was wearing a white vest and jeans was the driver.

Claude Speed was the man who was to lead the robbery had short brown hair and he wore a black jacket and blue jeans.

Bob was a slightly chubby man with brown hair and was wearing a red sweater and black trousers; he was only drafted in at the last minute because they needed someone extra to make sure none of the customers in the bank moved.

Sanchez was a Mexican with long brown hair and beard, he was wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans, he spoke in a thick Mexican street accent and he was there to crack the safe.

All four of them had grown up together and now they were facing the biggest robbery ever.

"Claude" Lee said "is it time to do the robbery yet?"

"Yes" Claude said

Lee pressed down on the accelerator and made a left turn into the tunnel, he drove very slowly just incase they caught the attention of the LCPD. Lee kept on driving through the dark tunnel. As they came to the Bank of Liberty they made a sharp turn and parked just outside it. Claude, Bob and Sanchez stepped out of the car and took their Colt 45's out of their pocket. They weren't using shotguns for this job. Sanchez then took a brown bag to put the money in. Lee parked the car the quickest way out of the bank car park while the other three ran into the building.

They burst in and Sanchez shouted "Yo homies, touch the ground"

Claude and Sanchez didn't wait to see what happened; they ran into the back of the bank leaving Bob to make sure none of them moved.

The bank manager was sitting in his office when suddenly the door came bursting in and Claude came over to him.

"Right, how do you open the safe?" Claude asked

"You're supposed to be the robbers, you work it out" the bank manager said

Sanchez kicked him in the face so hard that his nose started bleeding.

"Now ya tell me homie now or I'll shoot you" Sanchez said

"Okay follow me" the bank manager said

The manager took them along a corridor, up a lift and into a room where there was a safe. The manager pushed a few numbers into the safe and the safe swung open. Claude and Sanchez's

"There you go, take the lot" the bank manager said "you'll never reach heaven"

"This is heaven" Claude said

Sanchez put all the money into the brown bag and they ran out of the room, down the lift, into the corridor and back into the main bank where Bob was still making sure none of the clerks or . They ran out of the bank building when suddenly they halted to the spot and there was a hail of bullets. There were five black LCPD cars, a dozen policemen and a helicopter hovering above them and Lee and the blue Kuruma were nowhere to be seen.

Bobs body was lying lifeless on the ground full of bullets.

"You heartless bastards" Claude shouted "why did you have to shoot him, he didn't even plan this robbery, he isn't even a criminal, he didn't even want to help with the robbery, I forced him"

"Get down on the ground" one of the LCPD men shouted with a megaphone "both of you"

Claude and Sanchez didn't argue and reached for the ground. The policeman with the megaphone walked over to them.

"What are your names?" the policeman shouted

"Sanchez" Sanchez said

"What is your first name?" the policeman again shouted

"Me don't have one homie" Sanchez said

"I will blow your head clean off if you don't tell me your first name" the policeman shouted

"Me telling tha truth homie, me have no first name" Sanchez said again

"We'll check that" the policeman shouted and then turned to Claude "and who are you punk?"

"Claude Speed" Claude said

"So you were born with a first name" the policeman shouted sarcastically

Claude's father had often told Claude the story of how he had got his first name. His father had said back when he lived in Shirago he had met a man the day Claude was born. The man like Sanchez had no first name but didn't seem to have any second name either. But this man's nickname was Claude and as soon as Claude's father Vince heard this the name stuck and so he was named… Claude Speed.


	3. Tale 2 Chapter 2 A Case Full of Dollars

**Chapter 2 – A Case Full of Dollars**

_Red Valdez, Portland, Liberty City, 1999_

He was in complete darkness, not a single light to be seen. He could have been held there in darkness for maybe three or four hours tied with rope to his feet and hands.

Suddenly the light slowly came on. Salvatore Leone was standing in the doorway holding an AK47. He came over and cut the rope away with a sharp knife.

"Get up punk" Salvatore demanded

He then took him into a room where it looked like it was a lounge.

"Who are you?" Salvatore asked

"I'm Red Valdez" the man said

Red had a face which looked typically Cuban and he had greasy brown hair and he was wearing the trashiest clothes obviously bought from Binco.

"Well Red, if you tell me what's going on I'll let you leave this room alive" Salvatore said

"I don't know what you mean" Red said

"Don't get smart with me, we saw you in the apartment across the road from Momma's Restaurant aiming a sniper rifle to my sons head while he was eating, I had to send my men in to stop you and knock you out"

"Oh that" Red said

"Yeah that, you forgot already" Salvatore said "so who do you work for?"

"I work for no-one" Red said

"C'mon, you must work for someone" Salvatore said "What age are you?"

"Seventeen" Red said

"Seventeen, so you're saying you planned this all by yourself, as a personal grudge against the Leone's" Salvatore said

"Well, I don't work for anyone, but I helped a gang do this yes" Red said "The Liberty City Triads"

"But you're not Chinese" Salvatore replied

"No, I'm half Cuban" Red said

"I thought so" Salvatore said "I could tell by your accent, so did you get paid money for this?"

"Yes I was getting paid One Million Dollars, I'm a hired hitman" Red said "but I won't get paid now because I didn't kill your son"

"Say what if I let you leave this room with 1 Million Dollars of Leone money just now" Salvatore said "would you leave this room and never speak to me again, and never be associated with the Triads"

"So you're not going to kill me?" Red asked

"I can't" Salvatore said "you're just a pawn, there's no point in killing the pawn, but we will take action towards the Triads"

Salvatore then took a picture off the hook and opened the safe and then filled a nearby briefcase full of One Million Dollars. He then handed it to Red. Red began to walk away with it when Salvatore shouted "And if we ever see you trying that again, we'll hit you so hard, you won't be able to walk for a month, take that money as a nice way of a warning"

Red walked out of the Leone mansion and walked along the gravel path when suddenly a Mafia Sentinel came driving up. The car suddenly braked and someone rolled the window down.

"Who the fk are you?" the man shouted

"I'd like to ask the same question" Red said

"I'm Toni Cipriani, what are you doing here, you're not part of the Leone Family Mafia" the man said

"Wait" another voice said inside the car "that's that punk that tried to shoot me with a sniper rifle"

The man got out of the car, it was Joey Leone and he suddenly got a Colt 45 out of his pocket and aimed it to his head.

"Hang on Joey" Toni said "he must be about seventeen, find out who he is first"

Toni got out the car as well.

"What's this you got here" Joey said snatching the briefcase out of his hand

"That's mine" Red shouted

"You're right" Joey said "once I find out what's in it, for all we know you could've murdered Salvatore and took all his money, you tried blasting me"

"Hey Joey" Toni shouted "are you sure this is the guy?"

"Toni I saw his face in the apartment, I know this is the guy" Joey said

"Don't you think we should ask Salvatore, maybe he gave him all the information and then paid him off" Toni said

"Will you hold him while I check the case?" Joey asked

"Why?" Toni asked "if he wanted to kill you he would've done it already"

"Just hold him" Joey demanded

"One of these days I'm gonna land up shooting you Joey" Toni said giving up his argument and holding Red

Joey laid the briefcase on the bonnet of the car and opened the case. There was the One Million Dollars lying there.

"Look at this Toni" Joey said

"How did you know the number?" Toni asked

"Never mind that," Joey shouted in annoyance "my father always uses 6-6-6 as the code on briefcases, and on everything else, someone only has to have a devil fixation and they'd have the whole mansion robbed"

"That must be Salvatore's payoff" Toni said

"I don't think so Toni" Joey said "do you think my father would pay off One Million Dollars to someone who tried to kill his own son"

"Yeah" Toni said

"Well you can buy that cheap story," Joey replied "but I'm not going back to the mansion, find out my fathers dead, and then regret that we never avenged him"

"Okay" Toni said "take him back"

"I have to tell you" Red said "your friend is right, I was paid off by Salvatore"

"See" Toni said "straight from the horse's mouth"

"I still won't believe it till I see it" Joey said

Joey grabbed Red pointing the Colt 45 to his head, carrying his briefcase and took him back along the gravel road while Toni drove the Sentinel behind him. When Joey walked into the house Salvatore was sitting on the couch.

"Did you pay this guy off?" Joey asked Salvatore

"Yeah I did" Salvatore said "Why?"

"You paid him off with One Million Dollars" Joey said

"Yeah" Salvatore said "he promised me he's not going to do it again"

"And you believed him" Joey said

"Yes why shouldn't I" Salvatore replied

"Because, you shouldn't trust someone who tried to kill me" Joey shouted

"I hope you never become the Don" Salvatore said "you never give anyone a second chance, the reason why I didn't blast him is because he's a pawn and he was just in it for the cash, our real enemies are the Triads, so Red can go"

Red nodded his head quickly, took the briefcase from Joey's hands and began out the door.

"Oh and Red" Salvatore shouted again "take one of our Sentinels, we've got plenty, we won't miss one"

Red got into one of the Sentinels, pushed his foot down on the accelerator and drove along the road where loads of Leone's Mafia men were standing about. Red owned a small apartment in Hepburn Heights, which was Diablo territory, but luckily he had never met any of them face to face. He drove up to his apartment and quickly got out the car and walked into the apartment. He walked up a floor and took a key out his pocket and opened the door. He walked into the two roomed house and laid the briefcase onto the bed.

"Home sweet home" he said to himself

His house was the grubbiest thing you could have ever laid eyes on. The walls were un-papered and the only bits of furniture that were in the house were the bed and a small table which sat a small television. There was one small window which looked onto El-Train Station. He closed the raggy curtains so no-one could see inside. He then sat on the bed.

'So what could I do with this money?' Red thought to himself 'well first things first, I'm going to buy myself some new wheels, some new clothes and a haircut, then I'm going to open up a business, what shall my target be'

He then got up and put the television on.

"Hello, welcome to Love TV, the news will be on in a few minutes but first a message from the station's owner Donald Love" the television said

A smartly dressed short haired businessman walked onto the screen "Hello" the man said "I'm Donald Love; I see all is well, goodbye"

Within a few seconds Red had made up his mind. He wanted to be as big as this Donald Love one day; this made him think of what inspired him to be a hitman. When he heard of an underground gang leader named Darkel from a friend and how he ruled the gangs of the city of Darkel, the city which had been named after him he immediately thought of what it would be like. Now he had loads of money, he could be like this Donald Love; Donald Love basically owned most of America's media.

"Anyway" Red said to himself "firstly wheels, clothes and haircut, then tomorrow, I get to business"

He knew a friend that could give him advice on what to do.


	4. Tale 1 Chapter 3 Frozen

**Chapter 3 – Frozen**

_Claude Speed, Ghost Town, Liberty City, 2019_

Claude and Sanchez were handcuffed and loaded into the back of one of the police cars and they had there bag of money taken away from them. The car began towards the tunnel and into Shoreside Vale. Within a few minutes they were facing the door of Liberty City Prison.

"Hey" Claude said to the policeman taking him out of the car "don't we get a court case?"

"Why?" the policeman said "so fifteen policeman can all say, yep you robbed the bank and the evidence is a bag of money with your fingerprints on it, you'll be going in prison for a long stretch, until we think you're ready to come back into society"

The large gates of the prison were suddenly opened and they were led in by a prison guard.

"Would you like to go straight to the cells or to the lounge and meet the other prisoners?" the prison guard asked

"We'd like to go to the lounge first" Claude replied

They were led into a lounge where everyone was sitting watching a television. It was on Zaibatsu TV.

"Damn, I'll miss tha election tomorrow homie" Sanchez said

"Isn't the election every four years?" Claude asked

"No, remember when Alex Shrub got in power in 2016 homie, he changed it to every three years, the elections tomorrow, we won't be able to vote" Sanchez said

Claude and Sanchez began watching Zaibatsu TV and there was a news report with some news reporter.

"And tomorrow there's an election and as you may or may not know Zaibatsu TV's owner Red Valdez is taking a run for the presidency, so here is his last speech to try and convince you to vote for the Zaibatsu party, speaking from Capitol City"

The camera switched to a Cuban looking man with a slight beard and a big scar down his right cheek in a smart white suit talking from a chest-high desk.

"Hello Zaibatsu TV viewers, as you may know tomorrow I'm facing my first election, so I'm here to give a rundown of some Zaibatsu policies" the man said "my first policy is I'm going to ban all cities in America, instead of hundreds of little cities I'm going to build one big large city which will cut down on carbon monoxide emissions, secondly as you may know I also work in the field of pharmaceuticals and medical technology, a friend of mine named Dr. LaBrat has found the first way to cryogenically freeze humans, if I become president that is the first thing I will introduce to the nation, it will cost a lot but if you think it is worth it it's there, we will introduce cryogenic plants instead of prisons to keep prisoners, instead of keeping them in stone cells with metal bars where there is a chance they may escape, we will freeze them. That is all; please vote for Zaibatsu party tomorrow"

"That guy is now facing the election, he already owns the pharmaceuticals, all of America's media and now he's trying to own America" Claude said

"Ya homie, but I don't think he'll get in power" Sanchez said

"But Sanchez" Claude said "look at some of his policies, he wants to ban cities and live in one large city with less carbon monoxide emissions, I think they'll do pretty well in votes, they might not get in power but they'll certainly get quite high votes"

Claude and Sanchez then asked to be led to our cells which were up a few floors from the lounge; the cell was tiny and had bars along the front and window, it had a tiny bunk bed with uncomfortable looking mattresses and pillow.

Claude took the lower bunk and Sanchez took the bunk bed at the top. He took off his black jacket which revealed a white shirt. Claude then tried to raise a conversation with Sanchez.

"Do you think we were set up today Sanchez?" Claude asked

"Come on me homie, I think we were, a dozen fking policeman don't appear out of thin air like that" Sanchez replied

"I wonder what Lee is doing right now?" Claude asked

"He's probably in amazement at how he was so lucky escaping, I don't blame tha homie for escaping when seeing tha police, he wouldn't have got us out of tha place rápido so its better one of us not in prison than all of us in prison, unfortunately our fate is to be trapped in this concrete prison, Lee's fate must be freedom"

"You believe in fate then Sanchez?" Claude asked

"I believe in fate Claude my homie, and I think if Zaibatsu win tha election there is only certainly evil fate ahead, I never trust a gangster as the president" Sanchez said

"How about Alex Shrub, he's a gangster?" Claude asked

"I don't see him as a gangster homie; he's just stupid; however Red Valdez is smart and knows how to use propaganda effectively, no matter how many pros he tells tha people there gonna get, the cons will always out way it" Sanchez replied

They continued there conversation for an hour or so but then tiredness fell over them so they got into their uncomfortable beds and fell into a deep sleep and dreamed about the long unexpected day they had just finished.

The next morning Claude was awoken by a guard who told him someone was here to see him. So he immediately got up and followed the guard down the stairs into a room where the person would be sitting. Inside the room was his father Vince Speed. The guard showed him in and then shut the door.

"Hello son" Vince said "how are you doing?"

"Fine Dad" Claude replied

"I'm sort of depressed that you are in prison, why didn't you tell me you were going to do a robbery?" Vince asked

"Because you would've told me to call it off" Claude replied

"And wouldn't that have been a good thing?" Vince asked

"Probably, but it's not the sort of thing you talk about over dinner, oh by the way my three friends and I are going to rob a bank, is that okay, it was between us, a little bit of money to help us" Claude said

"You could've asked me for money, I get more money than the banks some day's from owning a franchise of Ammunation" Vince said

"Yeah, but there's a difference, if I borrowed from you I would have to pay it back, this would be cold hard cash, we would have no-one to pay to" Claude said

"But look where it got you son, you didn't even succeed in the robbery" Vince said "and today if the Zaibatsu party get in today there going to cryogenically freeze all prisoners, so this might be the last time I see you if they get in"

"Just try and make your vote count father" Claude said before saying goodbye and walking back to his cell.

It was 8pm later that day and Claude couldn't believe his eyes. He was watching the screen of the television on Zaibatsu TV and in big letters at the bottom of the screen was 'ZAIBATSU PARTY WIN ELECTION!' and there was a speech about to begin.

The half Cuban man with a scar Red Valdez came onto the screen with a delighted smile in celebration. He walked up to the same chest-high desk.

"I'd like to thank the people of America who voted for me, most importantly the viewers of Zaibatsu TV who were obviously inspired by my speech yesterday, I can tell you those policies will be carried out as soon as possible, in fact cryogenic plants will open tomorrow and a random prisoner from each prison in prisons all over America will be frozen, the new city has already been planned and workers will start to build it tomorrow morning, we will reveal later when the city shall be open to the public, my friend and vie president Uno Carboni shall name it, tomorrow I shall move into the White House, I shall now reveal the symbol of the Zaibatsu Party" Red said

He pulled up a card that had a star symbol on it, but it was slightly different, the bottom of the star was in the shape of an inner horseshoe, and there was a small triangle cut out of the top of the star. It was the same as the star of Zaibatsu Pharmaceuticals and Zaibatsu Media.

Claude and Sanchez stood back in terror at how this lunatic had won the election and quickly walked up to their cell.

"How could a lunatic like that win an election homie?" Sanchez asked as they prepared to go to bed

"As you said yesterday evening Sanchez clever use of propaganda" Claude said

"I'm gonna go to bed early if ya don't mind homie, I don't even want to think what tomorrows America under Red Valdez is going to be like, I'm gonna saviour tha last few hours under Alex Shrub in my sleep" Sanchez replied

The next morning Claude was suddenly awoken by two men dressed in black that he had never seen in his life shouting wake up punk.

"Wake up punk!" the other man was shouting at the top of his voice at Sanchez until he woke up

"Now guess what" one of the men in black said "you two have been picked as the two from this prison to be cryogenically frozen, you may take this or another choice which is you can be taken out of prison and join the ZPF: the Zaibatsu Police Force and see normal life again"

"I'm going to be frozen" Claude said "I'm not joining your Police Force"

"So be it" the man in black said

"How about you?" he asked Sanchez

"I will join tha ZPF I suppose" Sanchez said

"Guess what sir, your going to be the first prisoner to be cryogenically frozen" the man said to Claude "since Red Valdez was originally from Liberty City he decided to let them be first"

"I'm glad both your decisions are made then, I'll take this one" the other man in black said pointing to Claude "you take the one with the beard"

The guard in black took Claude down the stairs to the main corridor and past the lounge. Then he opened a door leading off the corridor which he had never been in and into another long corridor. There was a lot or journalists and television reporters walking about. The guard stopped Claude in front of one of the television reporters with a camera and nodded.

"Hello may we have an interview for Zaibatsu TV?" the reporter asked

"Yes" Claude said

"What is your name" the reporter asked

"Claude Speed" Claude replied

"Hello Claude, what was your crime?" the reporter asked

"I tried to rob a bank" Claude replied

"So how do feel about being cryogenically frozen?" the reporter questioned

"Terrible" Claude answered "but it was either that or joining the ZPF"

"I'm aware you're facing a one hundred year sentence" the reporter added

"I wasn't" Claude replied

"So how do you think the year 2119 will be like?" the reporter questioned

"I'm sure Zaibatsu will still be in power" Claude said

"Thank you for the optimism" the reporter added "that will be all"

He was led off with the guard in black to a small room where there were hundreds of little cryogenic chambers. Claude walked into the chamber as the nation watched and were probably muttering his name as one of the people who was to be cryogenically frozen. The tiny chamber door closed and he could fell the temperature going down. He then felt himself lose consciousness with the icy temperature a minute later under the conscious eye of Zaibatsu TV.


	5. Tale 2 Chapter 4 Zaibatsu Pharmaceutical...

**Chapter 4 – Zaibatsu Pharmaceuticals**

_Red Valdez, Portland, Liberty City, 2000_

The opening ofZaibatsu Pharmaceuticals was a large event. Only six months after Red had received the money from Don Salvatore Leone he was now at the opening of his own business. This opening dinner had all been arranged by his friend Uno Carboni who was twenty-one. Red and Uno were sitting at the table with a pearl white tablecloth waiting for all the employees and media to show up. Uno was an Italian; he must've been the only Italian that helped his friend instead of joining a Mafia. He wore a Mafia-like suit and had slicked back hair and Red had came quite accustomed to his white suit that he had bought the day after he had got the money and now wore it all the time when he was in public.

"Uno, I have to thank you for arranging this dinner for me, if it wasn't for you, there would be no grand opening, just a.. well opening" Red said

"Don't worry my friend" Uno said "you've done a lot of favours for me, and we don't want to dish out the money you received yet, that is solely for business now I'm sure Red"

"Yeah" Red said "when are they gonna arrive, they're late"

"How did you get that money again, it was something to do with the Mafia" Uno said

"It's a long story" Red said

"Well tell it" Uno replied "at least until the media arrive"

"Don't tell the media this though, it's supposed to be an inheritance from my granddad in Cuba, he's also keeping with the story" Red said "remember six months back when I had no money whatsoever"

"Yeah, they were hard times" Uno said

"Well, I took a job as a hitman for any gang that wanted to hire me, I was hired by the Triads this certain time" Red said

"Don't remind me, I'll never forgive those bastards" Uno said "I didn't know they had anything to do with you receiving the money"

"Anyway, they gave me a job for One Million Dollars if I could kill Joey Leone of the Leone Family Mafia" Red said

"This leads to something else doesn't it Red" Uno said

"It does indeed" Red said "anyway I attempted to do this job, I aimed the sniper rifle right to Joey's head from an apartment window, but then Leone's guards came in, knocked me out and took me to Salvatore Leone's mansion, well guess what happened after that"

"It could only be a twist" Uno replied

"Correct, he said I was a pawn so he would let me away alive and gave me One Million Dollars if I stay away from the Leone's and never work for the Triads again"

"So that's the story" Uno said

"Yeah, and I'm glad I did it" Red said "no more murdering and criminal activities

"So you're glad you did it even when the Triads came back for revenge?" Uno asked

"I only got a little beating" Red said

"You got more than that Red" Uno replied

"Well, the cut's turned into a scar, but come on, I think it was worth it" Red said

Suddenly Dr. LaBrat walked through the door in a tuxedo.

"You two are the only ones here? Where is everyone else?" Dr. LaBrat asked

"They're late" Red said

"They should be here any moment" Uno said

Dr. LaBrat wore thin rimmed glasses and had a brown ponytail. He took a seat one seat to the left of Red.

A few newspaper and television reporters with cameras walked through the door.

"May we have an interview for the Liberty Tree" the newspaper reporter asked

"Yes" Red said

"What interested you to go into pharmaceuticals?" the reporter asked

"It has always been a life ambition of mine to go into pharmaceuticals" Red said "and my friend Uno Carboni was willing to help me

"What made you go into pharmaceuticals now?" the reporter asked

"Well I got an inheritance from my granddad in Cuba" Red lied "so that could help me start up this business"

"How did you get that scar Mr. Valdez?" the reporter asked

He remembered vividly how he got the scar, only a few weeks after he got the money from the Leone's he bought a mansion in the hills of Shoreside Vale. A few weeks after they had moved in, Red and Uno were organizing their business, looking at CV's for potential employees, looking at buildings for the new business.

"Hey I need to go to the bathroom Red" Uno said and up he got from the red couch and walked through to the bathroom.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Red waited, they knocked two more times. Red got up off the couch and walked up to the door. He put the chain on and opened the door slowly. Suddenly they burst the chain and five men dressed in blue with baseball bats burst in, grabbed Red and threw him onto the couch and started beating him uncontrollably. It was obviously the Triads coming back for their revenge. Red was in continuous pain.

"You think you can fk with us?" the Triads said "not even doing the mission for the Triads"

One of the Triads brought out a blade and slashed Red's cheek and they all began beating him with baseball bats. The Triad with the blade put the blade to Red's throat. Suddenly his head was blown off blasting blood everywhere; it was Uno who had shot the bullet holding a Colt Python.

"If the four of you don't get out of this fking mansion now, I will shoot every one of you in the face!" Uno shouted

The Triads backed out with their baseball bats and back out the door. Uno followed them through the door to make sure they didn't try to get back. He shut the door and walked to the window, they had driven away.

"Right Red, what the fk is going on?" Uno asked "why did five Liberty City Triads walk into our house armed with baseball bats and blades"

"I was working with them, and I didn't complete a job" Red said

"God, we'll have to get rid of this dead Triad" Uno said

"Where did you get that Colt Python?" Red asked

"From underneath my pillow, I always keep it near me just in case" Uno replied

"Nobody uses a Colt Python anymore" Red said "people stopped using them in the 80's"

"Well you have to thank my Colt Python and I for getting you out of that st" Uno replied

"You should've used a Desert Eagle" Red said

"Whatever" Uno said "I'm gonna phone someone who can get rid of this body"

He picked up the phone, punched in a number and began speaking to the person.

"Hello" Uno said "how are you my friend, good, listen my friend and I are in a spot of bother just now, I was wondering if you could pay your old friend Uno out, you will, good, well we've got a headless Triad in our mansion, could you dispose of him, you will, thank you"

Uno put down the phone and said "He's twenty minutes away but he'll be here in ten"

"Red"

The voice cut right through Red's daydream.

"Are you okay Red?" the reporter asked

"Yes I'm fine" Red said

"You don't mind answering that question do you Red?" the reporter asked "about the scar"

"No I don't mind, I.I got the scar when I fell down the stairs" Red nervously lied

"What made you choose the name Zaibatsu?" the reporter asked

"Uno and I brainstormed ideas for a good name for a business and that's what we came up with"

"You must be the youngest person to start a business in America" the reporter said

"Yes, I'm eighteen, I guess I must be one of the youngest" Red replied

"Do you have any ideas what Zaibatsu pharmaceuticals will produce?" the reporter asked

"Well in fact tonight you will get a glimpse of what Zaibatsu Pharmaceuticals are producing" Red replied

As Red and the reporter had been speaking, all the employees were sitting at their seats for dinner. Dr. LaBrat stood up when everyone had sat down and the room went quiet to listen for what he was going to say.

"Hello, welcome everyone; I'm Dr. LaBrat, the head scientist for Zaibatsu Pharmaceuticals and I would like to show you the first product to be released under the name Zaibatsu Pharmaceuticals," he pulled a packet out of his pocket "I'd like to introduce Equinox, Equinox is not only an anti-depressant drug, but is also an anti-biotic and can cure you against certain illnesses, so I can truly say this is the beginning for Zaibatsu Pharmaceuticals"

Dr. LaBrat took a seat and everyone else gave him a round of applause.


	6. Tale 1 Chapter 5 Metropolis

**Chapter 5 – Metropolis**

_Claude Speed_

Suddenly Claude woke up; it felt like he had had a particularly long sleep. He woke up inside some sort of wooden warehouse. Loads of rubbish was lying about, how did he get here? He thought he would wake up inside the cryogenic plant. How long had he been lying here? Maybe it was the year 2119. It took him a minute to get his eyes focused when he realised there was a futuristic red car in front of him that was one he had never seen before. He stood up when he noticed he had been lying on an old brown table. Walking up to the car he noticed there was a note that said: _"Hello Claude, from one of your friends, the year's 2030, enjoy yourself." _

He knew who might have helped him out; it was either Lee or Sanchez. He wondered if Sanchez and Lee were still alive. He still had his cell phone in his jeans pockets. He was sure that his jeans were taken off him before he was put in the cryogenic chamber. He decided he would phone one of them. He still remembered Lee's phone number. He punched his numbers in and waited for an answer. It rung a few times and them someone answered.

"Hello" the person on the other end asked

"Hello, is that Lee?" Claude asked

"Yes, listen I'm in a spot of bother just now, could I phone you back later" Lee said

"Lee it's me Claude" Claude said

"Hi Claude, well since it's you, could you come and help me, I'm in Guntersville" Lee replied

"Where the heck is Guntersville?" Claude asked "I guess I'm in that new city created by Zaibatsu"

"Yeah" Lee chuckled "Do you have a car made in the last few years?"

"It certainly looks like it Lee" Claude said

"Well, it should have Global Positioning System" Lee said "just hurry up, I can't hide for too long"

Claude ended the call and ran to the door of the car; he tried to open the door, the door opened upwards, it must've been scissor doors. Claude got in and turned the key in the ignition and a screen lit up pointing out where Claude was, into the keyboard beside it he keyed in Guntersville and it immediately pointed out where it was, it then showed him the quickest way to get there. He got out of the car again and opened the door to the warehouse. Jumping into the car again he speeded off, the map said he was currently in a place called Morton in the Residential sector. The Residential Sector was a dump, it was one large Ghetto, the place was falling apart and the streets were dirty. He could see far in the distance tall skyscrapers feet high, they could all easily compete for the record of tallest building, in the world he lived in.

Suddenly he came to Guntersville; it looked like a small suburb. Claude came to a factory where there were two people with slightly weird teeth wearing Southern flags outside the gate. He pushed down on the accelerator and went through the gate. He could hear the guards shouting.

"Hey, you just went through our territory" one of them said in thick Southern accents

He could see Lee running out of the factory with a briefcase being chased by two other Southern looking guards with double-barrelled shotguns. Claude quickly pushed a button which opened the scissor doors. Lee jumped in while a double-barrelled shotgun bullet narrowly missed him by inches hitting the paintwork. He took a turn and headed for the gates where the other two guards were blasting shotguns towards us. He speeded towards them knocking them over and headed for the road quickly turning away.

"Thank-you Claude" Lee said now relaxing "I don't think any of them are following us, take me to Arbo on the GPS"

"Lee, you haven't even acknowledged that you haven't seen me for some time" Claude said

"Well I know I haven't seen you for some time, my Claude you look so young" Lee said

"I'm seventeen" Claude said

"I'm twenty-eight this year" Lee said

"What city am I in?" Claude asked

"You are in a city called Metropolis City, built in 2021 two years after the Zaibatsu party won the election, it was then made compulsory to move into this city or you wouldn't be classed as a citizen of America, whoever refuses to move from their home city is classed as illegal" Lee said

"Someone got me out of the cryogenic plant and gave me this car leaving me a note" Claude said

"It wasn't me anyway" Lee said "it might have been Sanchez or Bob; I haven't seen them since the robbery

Claude told Lee the news about Bob and Sanchez. Lee was quite in shock.

"Sanchez joined the ZPF" Lee said

"The last I heard" Claude said "I've been frozen for eleven years"

"Don't you think it's kind of weird that they would rather freeze criminals than just kill them?" Lee asked

"Yeah, it is actually, freezing them just puts them out of society, doesn't mean they're not going to be criminal when they wake up" Claude said

"You wanna know why?" Lee asked

"Yes" Claude said

"They don't freeze them for one hundred years, they've invented a way to erase there mind to use them in the ZPF so as soon as they run out of ZPF, say in a riot or a gang war, they unfreeze them and use them, so they're using the gangs of Metropolis City's own ammunition against them" Lee said

"Who were that gang you were running from?" Claude asked as they were nearing Arbo

"I'll tell you as we get in the house, just to your right" Lee said

Claude parked the car on the sidewalk and couldn't believe his eyes at the house, it looked exactly the same as when they lived in. As they walked in the door Claude asked him how he managed to get the same house.

"Well one of the options Zaibatsu gave me was to ship the house to Metropolis City brick by brick; well I like this house, so chose a Neutral area in Metropolis and moved here" Lee said

As Claude got in the house he noticed Lee was wearing a Zaibatsu badge with the star he had seen the second last day in prison.

"Why are you wearing a Zaibatsu badge?" Claude asked

"It's compulsory, if you're caught by the ZPF in public not wearing there badge, you get taken to the ZPF headquarters and shot, here's a few good fake badges I keep for any people who live outside Metropolis City and want to come in undetected" Lee said leading him to a computer.

He typed Claude's name and details into a nearby computer and the badge printed out, he laminated it and handed it to him. He signalled him to take a seat on the couch.

"Don't take this off while out in public" Lee said "Now to tell you what I was doing before, I was given a tip about a case of diamonds that Billy Bob Bean, the leader of a gang called the Rednecks had in his possession, they are fully untraceable by the ZPF, I think they may come from San Fierro in the early 21st Century" Lee said

"Tell me more about Metropolis City" Claude asked

"Apart from the Zaibatsu party and gang, ran by the leader Trey Welsh…" Lee said

"I thought the president was Red Valdez?" Claude interrupted

"He was assassinated five years ago from one of Metropolis's gangs; he was on the steps outside of the Zaibatsu building when he was shot by an Uzi, the current vice-president Uno Carboni succeeded him, but he was assassinated last year, and there was an election to vote for the next leader"

"So I guess Red Valdez turned America into a dictatorship" Lee said

"Anyway, as I was telling you, apart from the Zaibatsu, there are six other gangs in Metropolis, most mixtures of gangs all around America, the Rednecks, who we met briefly, rednecks who weren't happy that they were told to leave their precious homes in the south so came to Metropolis just to rebel, ran by Billy Bob Bean. The Yakuza, made up of the old Liberty City Yakuza, ran by Johnny Zoo, a member of the old Yakuza. The Loonies, they are what they're name is, absolute lunatics, will deal in any chemicals even if there is a chance they might die from it, operate at the Fruitbat Club in the Downtown Sector, ran by a gang leader named Elmo. The Triads, originally from the San Fierro Triads, ran by a white haired Triad leader named Wu Zi Mu. The Krishna's, religious fanatics from India, ran by a leader named Sunbeam. Lastly the Scientists, originally worked with Red Valdez and Zaibatsu, but had a fall out over money, ran by Dr. LaBrat who has hated Zaibatsu since that day." Lee said

"I think we should try and get America back on its toes" Claude said

"How are we going to do that, look at this Claude" Lee said

He showed him an obvious American flag but something was very different, instead of stars in the corner, there was the Zaibatsu star.

"How can you do anything when Zaibatsu own everything, they even own street signs!" Lee said "Would you like a glass of water out of the tap?"

"Yeah" Claude replied

"Let me tell you what would happen if I gave you a glass of water from the tap, Zaibatsu recently put a toxic deadly chemical in the reservoir, it can't even be rid by boiling, it's so you will buy Zaibatsu bottled water, you can only use this water for washing dishes, and you have to dry it completely" Lee said

"What's your point Lee?" Claude asked

"I'm trying to point out that you can't do anything that doesn't remind you what society is like today, Liberty City had nothing criminal compared to this place, how can there be a law when the government is more corrupt than the criminals?" Lee said

"I say we call a state of emergency!" Claude said

"Yeah, one problem, I have no weapons or money to buy the weapons" Lee replied

"How about, I work for the gangs of Metropolis, then I will get money and information, killing two birds with one stone" Claude said

Lee nodded in approval.


	7. Tale 2 Chaper 6 Meet Darkel

**Chapter 6 – Meet Darkel**

_Red Valdez, Shoreside Vale, Liberty City, 2001_

It was a beautiful morning around a year after the opening dinner, the company was doing well and Equinox was selling like hotcakes because it was being advertised over the radio and television, namely Love TV where most of the television adverts were being shown. Red was sitting on the couch reading the paper for financial news, waiting for Uno Carboni to show up, he had been away all morning, Red was wondering where he had got to.

After a while of waiting Uno walked through the door calmly and walked up to Red.

"Uno, where have you been?" Red asked

"I've got someone here to visit you Red" Uno replied

The person came through the door, Red recognised him immediately, it was… Darkel! He was wearing his usual tatty clothes and ragged beard but the face was instantly recognisable. Behind them were four gang members dressed in black. Red was immediately in shock, and ran over to the curtains and began to shut them hurriedly.

"What's the matter with you?" Uno asked

"If the Liberty Tree catches me in association with a criminal, they'll have a feel day, I won't be classified as a respectable pharmaceutical businessman" Red said

"What, you mean you aren't a criminal?" Darkel asked

"Of course I'm a criminal, I worked for gangsters, but I've tried to keep my slate as clean as possible, at least in the public eye anyway" Red replied

"I hear I'm one of your inspirations" Darkel said

"You are one of my inspirations; it is genius to run more than one gang in a city, you don't get as many betrayers" Red replied

"You don't indeed, no-one has had the guts to ever betray me and even the government wouldn't look down on me because they named the city I live in after me" Darkel said

"Well in a similar way I'm inspired by your new age pharmaceuticals, they have travelled as far as Darkel City now" Darkel said

"You have to thank Dr. LaBrat the head scientist for that, he knows his pharmaceuticals" Red said

"I just came here to say, if you need any help, just call me, you can now know me as your friend, not just an inspiration" Darkel said "if you ever want to come up to my flat in Darkel here's my address"

Darkel handed him a piece of paper with his address on it and it had his signature on it.

"Why has it got your signature on it?" Red asked

"To get past the guards at the bottom of the stairs of my apartment" Darkel replied "I wish to carry out a free favour for you Mr. Valdez, what shall it be?"

"Nah I don't want to bother you Darkel, my friend Uno has already bothered you enough by sending you all the way to Liberty City" Red replied

"I insist" Darkel said

"Okay" Red said "if you must, show the Liberty City Triads that there is someone more powerful than them, shower them in a hail of bullets"

"The Triads eh, I've heard a lot about them from the Leone Family Mafia" Darkel replied

"You are friends with the Leone Family Mafia?" Red asked

"They are one of my button gangs in Liberty, if I think a punk's betrayed us I send them looking for them" Darkel replied "meet one of the leaders of the Darkel gangs, the Warner Streets"

The gang leader had bleached blonde hair.

"Yo' is it Red Valdez?" the gang leader asked

"Yeah" Red replied

"My name's Emaru, these three are Warner Streets homies" the gang leader said

"Shower them in bullets Emaru, I'm counting on you" Red said

"Darkel and Emaru, you must promise to never tell anyone that I ordered you to do this, in fact, never tell anyone that we ever met, in case they have a friend of a friend of a friend that works for the Liberty Tree and it's splashed across the front paper, my business will go downhill" Red said

"Don't worry my man" Emaru said "watch from the comfort of your armchair as we blast the Triads into nothing"

Emaru pulled twin Uzi's out his pocket and loaded them, he proceeded out of the door with the other three gangsters. Darkel walked up and shook hands with Red, said

"We'll carry out this favour, come visit me sometime" and proceeded to the door.

All five walked out of the mansion and stepped into a black Stretch in the driveway.

"Hey driver, take us to Sunshine Autos in Portland" Darkel shouted

The driver pressed down on the accelerator and headed for the Shoreside Lift Bridge, he went through the streets of Staunton Island, across the Callahan Bridge into Diablo territory and finally to Sunshine Autos. The driver parked the car and they all got out. The employee came running out.

"Can I help you?" the employee asked before noticing it was the underground leader of Darkel City and looking in shock

"Yes friend, I'd like your best lowrider please" Darkel said

"What colour would you like?" the employee asked

"Any colour" Darkel replied

The employee went into the garage and brought out a brown Lowrider with a roof and parked it in front of them.

"Have th..this one on me" the employee stuttered

"Good judgement" Darkel said

The driver got in and drove it to the local Pay and Spray in the Red Light District. They sprayed it blue and got the license plate taken off.

They began towards Chinatown and as they got near they began looking for a place where most of the Triads were hanging about, they got near where about a dozen of Triads were standing about, six on each side of the road.

"Get ready" Darkel shouted

Darkel pushed the roof off the lowrider and Emaru and the three other gangsters stood up and began blasting their Uzi's, the first round of bullets blasted a few of the Triads in blue on both sides of the road. They went down drenched in blood as the other Triads got out their Colt 45's and began unloading bullets back towards them. The bullets hit the paintwork of the lowrider. Emaru blasted his twin Uzi's at them until they were corpses full of lead. The driver pressed won on the accelerator towards another group of Triads who on hearing the commotion further down the street had loaded their Colt 45'sand were hiding behind skips. One of the Warner Streets jumped out of the lowrider armed with twin Uzi's and creeped up behind the script and began blasting. He got shot in the chest and walked stumbled towards the lowrider drenched in blood. He collapsed in the middle of the road. The surviving Triads walked up to the lowrider unloading clips. Emaru blasted his twin Uzi's and they were capped. The driver pushed his foot down on the accelerator towards the alleyway where all the Chinatown shops were, the lowrider couldn't get in because of the bollards.

"Yo' you two" Emaru yelled over the noise of a gang of Triads who were running towards the car "get as many as you can"

"Let's blast some more" Emaru said to Darkel

Darkel aimed his Uzi towards them and they were blasted away in a wisp of smoke. A few of the Triads were now running from the opposite direction. The driver reversed into them wiping out most of them and the remaining who survived were immediately blasted by Darkel and Emaru. The driver turned the corner where the other two Streets had blasted over a dozen Triads and were now at the end of the alleyway hiding behind a parked car blasting a few Triads. The two Streets saw the lowrider and made a run for it jumping in. One of them had been hit in the foot.

"Should we hit the road now?" Emaru asked

"Nah, another couple of minutes and I'll have this place torn apart" Darkel replied

They turned the corner and began blasting them on both sides turning the block a couple of times. Suddenly the engine grinded to a halt, petrol was gushing out of the tank.

"We'll have to leave this car, the engine's gonna blow!" the driver shouted above the shrapnel

All five of them jumped out of the car, the Street that had been shot was still limping. Suddenly the driver's head was blown clean off; the bullet had been unloaded from a Triad holding a Desert Eagle, just metres away.

"Let's split the f--k up!" Darkel shouted

Emaru ran towards an alleyway with the limping Street homie when suddenly the Street's leg was blown off by the same Triad. Emaru reacted by grabbing his twin Uzi's and blasting the Triad to nothingness. The Street was lying gripping his lifeless limbless knee.

"Go Emaru, run away" the Street shouted "leave me to die"

"C'mon homie, I'll be shot by a passing Triad any minute, save yourself, you are much more professional than me if you can keep your limbs, just run…." the Street suddenly slipped into a coma from the loss of blood, or maybe he died. Emaru didn't wait to find out and ran into the alleyway. A gang of Triads suddenly passed the alleyway where Emaru was hiding behind some boxes.

"That's one of the killers" the Triad shouted "he's still got a pulse, waste the motherf-cker"

Emaru heard a loud shot and then silence. He sneaked to the end of the alleyway and saw the now headless and legless Street lying on the ground. Suddenly a Fish Van rushed past him and they slammed on the brakes. The back of the Fish Van opened and a dozen Triads with AK 47's jumped out. Emaru ran as fast as he could when a civilian in a Kuruma pulled up. The driver got blown to bits and Emaru jumped behind the car as the car was filled full of holes, Emaru couldn't think what to do next. Twin Uzi's were his only weapon and he had no backup. For a minute he waited just waiting for the car to explode any minute. Then an almighty explosion was heard in the distance, Emaru could feel the heat against his skin. The Fish Van was now lying in bits and all the Triads were lying lifeless on the ground. But now a tank was thundering towards him. Emaru thought he was dead meat. Suddenly the tank stopped and a friendly face popped his head out the tank and gave a smile, it was Darkel.

"Get in" he shouted

Emaru jumped inside the tank and took a seat in secure comfort.

"Where's the other Street?" Darkel asked "the Street that was with me got blown away"

"He got his limb blown off and then his head" Emaru said "where did you get this tank?"

"I jacked a Perennial and then drove as far away as I could till I came to a tank lying out in the street, standing there was a man who said I could take it, he had loads, his name was Phil Cassidy, I took it and headed back to see how you were going and when I saw twelve Triads armed to the teeth I had to help you, let's get back to Darkel" Darkel said

The tank went into the distance along the Callahan Bridge.

Meanwhile Red was watching the aftermath unfold live on Love TV. There was a large subtitle underneath saying "TRIADS MASSACRED IN BRUTAL SHOOTING." The news suddenly crossed for a minute over to a news reporter.

"Well, breaking news even more urgent than the Triad massacre in Chinatown, the leader of the Leone Family Mafia Salvatore Leone has just been murdered outside Sex Club Seven in the Red Light District, whether this incident and the Triad massacre are related is unknown…"

Red turned the television off and looked towards Uno in shock.

"Can you believe that?" Red asked

"I know" Uno said "both events happening at the same time"

Strangely Uno had a smirk on his face.

"What is so funny?" Red asked

"You know you said that if the media caught you speaking to Darkel, you would be in the papers?" Uno asked

"Yes I said that, what about it?" Red asked

"Well what if we could somehow gain control of the papers?" Uno asked

"Great idea, but the only way we could do that is if… you're not suggesting we try and buy the media off Donald Love, he would never sell it to a pharmaceutical company" Red said

"No, what if we took over Love Media, then we could filter any media" Uno replied

"Yes, that's genius" Red replied "we would also be able to filter the television, they would turn a blind eye to any illegal activities we do, meaning we don't have to be as careful"

"I have a plan Red" Uno said "we have to do it sneakily or we'll be on the front of the papers before we can do it, we have to do it subtly, we can't go in and take the business off him, we have to pretend we want to buy it off him, obviously he will say no, but then we could quietly get rid of him leaving the business to us"

"Brilliant plan Uno" Red said "brilliant plan."


	8. Tale 1 Chapter 7 Johnny Zoo

**Chapter 7 – Johnny Zoo**

_Claude Speed, Ukita, Metropolis City, 2030_

The restaurant was coloured with red and black and was typically furnished with Japanese oak tables.

"I always preferred Burger Shot to Happy Blimp; the Double-Barrelled Burger was much more filling than the lousy Blimp burger" Johnny Zoo said

"I rarely used to eat in there" Claude Speed said "but the rare times I did, I sure did enjoy it"

"Yeah" Johnny Zoo said "I think the reason was the advert that Happy Blimp used was so un-subtle, I know that eating burgers make you fat, but there's no need to create adverts that are so blatant with the title 'Explode Your Waste', it just makes you not want to eat there"

"I never ate at Happy Blimp" Claude said

"Well, it doesn't matter now" Johnny said "Zaibatsu took over them both; they're called Zaibatsu Burgers now, business is just one big monopoly in America now"

"Yeah and why do you need to eat boring American burgers when you've got authentic Japanese noodles?" Claude asked

Johnny gave out a short chuckle.

"If you went to Tokyo, well it's a pile of unliveable rubble now, but in the early part of the 21st Century it was thriving, you would get sick of the sight of noodles, there was a noodle shop on the edge of every street corner" Johnny said

Johnny Zoo had short black hair and was wearing a white shirt and black trousers.

"I think I recognise your name Claude" Johnny said

"Yeah I was cryogenically frozen in 2019, just got let out this year" Claude replied

"What makes you want to work for the Yakuza?" Johnny asked

"I've always admired the Yakuza, since way back in Liberty City" Claude said

"Well if you want to join the Yakuza, you have to make an oath, to never have any links to the Zaibatsu gang" Johnny said

"I hate Zaibatsu, they froze me" Claude replied

"Good, you didn't look like you had any links to the Zaibatsu" Johnny said

"I remember the casino the Yakuza used to own in Staunton Island" Claude said

"Oh yeah, I had to sell that, the Yakuza boss before me Kenji Kasen was killed and I couldn't think of a way to run it" Johnny said "I was just one the gangsters back then, in my silver and red Stinger" he let out a chuckle "I've still got that lurking in my garage, even though I've got a brand new model I still take my old Stinger out for a ride sometimes"

"I went to the casino a few times" Claude said

"Yeah, just a pile of rubble now, Liberty City is now overrun by ruthless gangsters that don't live anywhere and aren't classed as legal citizens of USA, Vice City is just a place for Loonie gangsters to go on holiday and have twenty-four seven raves, I would give anything to go and re-claim Liberty City and go back to the old way of life, yes maybe Alex Shrub was a bad president, starting wars with countries he couldn't even pronounce over meaningless things, but at least he didn't make the whole population go through it and not allow anyone to speak out, we are reminded everyday of our own mistake, we voted them in, and now there's no legal way to get them out" Johnny said "anyway, got to keep a stiff upper lip, I'm the leader of one of Metropolis's top gangs, have to look towards the future of Yakuza, not the past, for all I know while I look back the way, our respect could be going down"

"There is nothing wrong with being nostalgic" Claude said "look at things in stereo, look towards the future but remember where you came from, I have lost one of my friends and know another is somewhere out there with the wrong destiny"

"You fill me with hope Claude" Johnny said "you are a good man Claude, I just hope you do something with your life and not just what the majority of people in Metropolis do, live in fear and pretend to marvel at the new Mount Rushmore"

"There's a new Mount Rushmore?" Claude asked in surprise

"Yes" Johnny said "carved with the faces of the three Zaibatsu presidents Red Valdez, Uno Carboni and Trey Welsh"

"I must see that" Claude replied

"Just remember to do something better than what all the gang leaders do plus me, we don't just fight the Zaibatsu but fight each other, that takes away the point of us being here in the first place"

"Would you like me to do any jobs for you Johnny?" Claude asked

"There is one, I have to go to Neo-Tokyo in about an hour, some urgent business with the Neo-Tokyo Yakuza, not really sure what exactly"

"Here's one thousand dollars upfront, what I want you to do is to go to this meeting in Omnitron between the six main gangs in Metropolis City, in this city you have to pay for respect, so in this briefcase is one hundred thousand dollars, each gang has to pay for this forced treaty, at least it's an attempt to try and unite against the Zaibatsu, even if it is forced" Johnny said "there's a Yakuza suit in the cupboard just there, red and black with the Yakuza symbol, complete with a samurai sword, see you later Claude"

He left his one thousand dollars in one hundred dollar bundles which had symbols from the Zaibatsu bank, Johnny walked out of the Yakuza restaurant and the briefcase was lying on the table. Claude walked up to the cupboard and tried the Yakuza uniform on; the samurai sword was within easy reach and was particularly sharp, it was a shame he had practically no samurai skills. He shoved the one thousand dollars in his pocket and stepped out of the restaurant holding the briefcase, walked into the car park opened the scissor doors of his futuristic red car and placed the briefcase in. He took the one thousand dollars out of his pocket, looked at it and thought he couldn't possibly take this, he had basically been told from Johnny Zoo that he was a good man and he should try and be against the Zaibatsu as much as he can, he couldn't possibly take money from someone like this. Or maybe he should? What if all gangs were like this, he wouldn't get any money for ammunition. Well he was pretty sure when he got around to working for the Rednecks he wouldn't get any life-changing tips, so he decided this once to not take this money. He walked back into the restaurant, called up a waiter, gave him the money and told him the next time Johnny Zoo comes in to give him the money. He walked back to his car, opened the scissor door, turned the ignition and pressed down on the accelerator towards Omnitron.

The building was a bloodbath, as soon as Claude got to the building where the meeting was taking place he could hear gunshots, a couple of Loonies in green suits ran towards his car armed with Uzi's and blasted at his car, Claude had two Colt 45's in his holsters so he retaliated and blasted them.

'Plan B' he thought to himself 'get the f--k out of here'

There were loads of gangs taking pot-shots at each other with any weapon they had, then two men dressed in the Yakuza gang uniform ran towards his car, one of them had been shot in the leg.

"Konichiwa, are you a Yakuza?" the uninjured man asked

"Well sort of, I'm doing some work for them, I was supposed to give money for the treaty but when I saw it was a bloodbath I guess it's off" Claude said

"Yeah, no doubt it's off, it barely even began, it started off fine but then the Rednecks ruined it by disagreeing and opening fire on the rest of the gangs with an AK, then everyone turned on each other" the Yakuza man said

"Get in" Claude said

The two Yakuza got in and Claude reversed onto the road and accelerated away from the scene.

"You're not Japanese are you?" the Yakuza man asked

"Nah, home-grown American from Liberty City" Claude said "you have one of the best leaders of all the gangs in Metropolis City"

"Thank-you" the Yakuza man said

"So what happened to your friend?" Claude asked

"How do you think? He got shot" the Yakuza gangster replied

"Obviously he got shot, who by?" Claude asked

"The redneck that opened fire shot me" the injured Yakuza gangster said "I tried to dive and save one of my friends, he got capped but I managed to survive"

As they neared the Yakuza headquarters he parked on the sidewalk and the two Yakuza gangsters jumped out. The one who was injured hobbled out.

"Hey, take this briefcase back; it looks like it can go back in the Yakuza funds" Claude replied

The un-injured Yakuza gangster grabbed the case of Claude and Claude drove back towards Lee's house in Arbo. He decided to give him a phone.

"Hello" Lee said

"Hi Lee, its Claude" Claude said

"Did you do the work for the Yakuza?" Lee asked

"Yeah, I was supposed to take some money for a treaty of the six gangs of Liberty City" Claude replied and explained what had happened up to that moment

"You refused the money!" Lee shouted down the phone angrily

"Yeah, I couldn't take it off him" Claude said "he told me I was a good man and should live my life to the full"

"So you wasted your time working for the Yakuza" Lee yelled

"No, I might get more work in the future" Claude replied

"Listen Claude, I hate every single gang in this city, no matter what words of wisdom they say to me, the only reason I thought we were doing this for was for money and information, nothing more, nothing less, so you don't refuse any money, you take every measly penny a gang gives you" Lee said still angry

"And I will, this is just a one off" Claude replied hanging up the phone


	9. Tale 2 Chapter 8 Goodbye with Love

**Chapter 8 – Goodbye with Love**

_Red Valdez, Staunton Island, Liberty City, 2001_

"What you are offering is preposterous" Donald Love said "I know Zaibatsu pharmaceuticals popularity has risen the last few years but I don't think I could make a take over with Zaibatsu pharmaceuticals"

Red and Uno were sitting on the sofa in Donald Love's office, Donald Love was so edgy that he couldn't keep himself seated and was walking about the office smoking a cigar.

"I admire you Mr. Valdez, you are an up and coming businessman but I've worked years to get this media empire just to give it away to a rookie" Donald Love said "no offence"

"Red takes no offence" Uno said "but I think if you merged with Zaibatsu pharmaceuticals it would not just benefit us but benefit you"

"How would it benefit me? You wanted to declare a take over, not a merger" Donald Love said

"Yes, but it would be using our name, you would still technically own it" Uno said

"Why do you have to talk for Red Valdez, can't he talk for himself?" Donald Love asked

"Mr. Love, he could talk for himself, but I'm his legal representative, and my friends words might come out wrong, which would cause confusion, now I would gladly wait for your legal representative if you wish" Uno said

"No, I want to get this crazy idea out of your heads and out of this building before lunchtime" Donald said

"Well Mr. Love it is your business and is completely up to you" Uno said

"I know that whoever you are" Donald said

"Mr. Carboni to you" Uno said

"Okay Mr. Carboni, I don't need someone like you walking into my office and telling me what I already know" Donald Love said "now get out of here"

"So will you sign the contract for the Zaibatsu takeover of Love media?" Uno asked

"Can't you understand the word NO?" Donald said

"Yes, but there must be some way to persuade you Mr. Love" Uno said

"It would have to take more than the annual profit I get to persuade me" Donald Love replied

"Would a bullet in your brain persuade you?" Uno asked pulling out a Desert Eagle

"What are you talking about?" Donald Love said now in fear

"Sorry, let me be more precise, would a threat of a bullet in the brain persuade you?" Uno said now aiming for Donald Love's head

"No, because without my signature, you won't own the business" Donald Love said

"Do you think blood counts on contracts now Red?" Uno asked Red

"I think so yeah" Red replied

"Yeah, on Mafia contracts, not legal business contracts" Donald Love said "coming in my office and aiming a Desert Eagle to my face doesn't stop me defending my business"

"Is that so" Uno replied "so how far would you go to defend your business"

"Mr. Carboni, I would die for my business" Donald Love said

"Lets just see how true that is" Red said

"Oh so you do speak, I thought your legal representative did all your speaking for you" Donald spoke sarcastically

"This isn't the legal side of things, welcome to the underground life of Mr. Valdez" Red said

He swiftly strolled up to Donald Love and whacked him in the face three times bursting his nose, blood gushed everywhere and he stumbled to the floor. Suddenly they heard footsteps coming from the entrance to the building.

"F--k, lets hide, into the cupboard" Red whispered

Red and Uno dragged Donald Love into the cupboard.

"If you make one sound Mr. Love, this cupboard will be filled with the contents of your brains, so take the hint, shut up" Uno whispered

They watched through the keyhole as a young man dressed in a black jacket with green jeans swaggered into the office, he looked around with disinterest for a few seconds and walked out again.

"Who was that?" Uno asked Donald Love

"Some guy that's been doing work for me, some mute" Donald Love said holding his nose trying to stop the blood "you do know that that guy's gonna report me missing"

"Yes, and you do know that I've got a clean slate according to the public" Red said "so I'll appear with your signature on my contract and I'll automatically have the business, so you'll just be one of the many people that disappear each year"

"Your not gonna get my signature" Donald Love replied

"Oh yes we f-cking are" Uno said "lets take him to our interrogation room at our mansion, so we don't get interrupted again"

Uno grabbed Donald Love and they walked out of the building and down towards the underground car park towards a red Kuruma, Uno opened the boot of the car and shoved Donald Love in.

Uno got in the drivers seat and they made their way towards the Shoreside Lift Bridge and towards the suburban part of Shoreside Vale and to their mansion, they parked in the driveway on a slight hill, grabbed him out of the boot and lead him into the kitchen of the house. Red then lifted up the red carpet where there was a trapdoor. He opened the trapdoor and Uno pushed Donald Love down. They led him through a narrow corridor into a large room with peeling brown paint and random objects were lying scattered around the room including a wooden chair which had somehow been turned over. Red pulled up the chair onto four legs. Uno forced Donald Love onto the chair and Red pulled some old rope up and tied him onto it.

"Tying me to a chair won't make a blind bit of difference" Donald Love shouted "I'm not signing the f--king contract"

"Get some duct tape to shut this guy up" Uno yelled to Red

Red searched through the debris and found some duct tape, chucked it to Uno and he raised it over Donald Love's face.

"How should we begin the torture Red?" Uno asked

"Why don't we make his first pain his most memorable" Red said

"Good idea Red" Uno stated "hand me a machete"

Red clutched the machete from a rack of blades hanging from the wall and handed it to Uno.

"Good, get ready for some action" Uno said with a smirk

He then aimed the machete and slashed a dozen deep wounds in as many places as he could find. The blood was oozing out and he was screaming in agony.

"You think you're in agony now; you don't know the meaning of pain" Uno shouted

He walked over to the debris and rummaged through it finding a brown can of what looked like petrol. He opened the can and poured it hurriedly over Donald Love. It hurt him even more. Uno then ripped the duct tape off his face.

"Are you ready to f-cking sign the contract?" Uno asked him

"I will never sign it" Donald Love repled "even if you slice me and pour as much petrol over me as you can I still won't sign the contract"

"Torture the bastard" Red shouted

"You've really pissed me off now!" Uno yelled in anger re-applying the duct tape "you're getting a limb taking off"

Red strolled out of the room and into the corridor. Uno expected Donald Love to scream underneath the tape or try and get himself free from the rope, but he just sat there as if saying 'come on then, torture me more'.

Red came walking back in carrying a large yellow rimmed chainsaw. As Uno motioned for Red to give him the chainsaw Red nodded negatively.

"I'll carry out this piece of torture since I own Zaibatsu Pharmaceuticals" Red said

Red started up the chainsaw, it started up with a roar and he paced towards Donald Love. Donald Love was sweating but not screaming. As he was an inch away from his arm he suddenly shouted out from underneath the tape but his voice was drowned out because of the duct tape. Red halted the chainsaw and Uno pulled the tape off.

"Please don't take my arm off" Donald Love bawled "let me run the company for another few years then I'll remember to hand it over to you, after all you're only nineteen"

"You suddenly changed your tune" Red replied "what made _you_ change your mind, what do you think about that deal then Uno?"

"Wrong answer" Uno replied

Red began the chainsaw again.

"Please we must be able to negotiate?" Donald Love shouted over the noise of the chainsaw

"This is not a place we take people to negotiate, if we wanted to do that we would have stayed in your office, this is a place to get what we want" Uno replied "take his arm off"

"I can't hand over my business, please don't make me hand it over" Donald Love said

"Fine then, just hand over your arm" Uno replied

"Okay, I GIVE UP!" Donald Love suddenly shouted

Red halted the chainsaw again and said

"What did you just say?"

"I give up, are you happy now, you've reduced a fine natured businessman to a stumbling wreck" Donald Love said in a mixture of tears and anger

Uno released his arms and handed him the contract. Donald Love quickly signed his name on the dotted line and gave it back to Uno.

"Thank you" Uno smiled with malice "and goodnight"

He suddenly punched him with his hardest punch instantly knocking him out. Uno then pulled out his cell phone, punched in some numbers and put it to his ear. It wrung a few times and then someone answered it.

"Hello" Uno said "is that Dr. LaBrat, hi Uno Carboni here, we've got someone here for you to test your cryogenic freezing on, oh and guess what, we own Love Media now, re-naming it Zaibatsu Media of course, and as far as the public are concerned Donald Love mysteriously went missing after signing the contract, see you later"

Uno hung up the phone.

"Well there you go Red" Uno said "everything's sorted out; Dr. LaBrat is coming over to collect Mr. Love, and you now own the Pharmaceuticals and Media"

"I'm only glad about one thing" Red replied "I'm glad I didn't have to chainsaw him, it would have ruined my white suit"


	10. Tale 1 Chapter 9 Wu Zi Mu

**Chapter 9 – Wu Zi Mu**

_Claude Speed, Chinatown, Metropolis City, 2030_

Claude Speed pulled up beside the dojo where the leader of the Triads Wu Zi Mu supposedly lived. He had lived in a recluse since moving to Metropolis City Lee had told him; from this dojo he controlled all of the Triads affairs. The Triads only owned one territory of Metropolis called Chinatown which was in the Downtown Sector, but it was the toughest territory to invade, not one gang had successfully took it over. Every gang that had tried had gone down in a hail of bullets. It was obvious that it was secure; there were loads of Triad gang members on both sides and there wasn't any ZPF hanging around like any other territory. Lee had told him Wu Zi Mu was an old blind man with long white hair and a white beard, but he was so skilled, that even though his eyes couldn't be used he still had a mental picture of his surroundings. He was also expertly skilled in Kung Fu. As Claude stepped out of his red futuristic car which he still had no idea what it was called a Triad strolled over.

"What purpose do you have in this territory?" the Triad asked

"I wish to see Wu Zi Mu" Claude replied

"You must be joking, Wu Zi Mu has swore an oath to speak to no-one apart from Chinese and ZPF" the Triad said

"So there's no way around it?" Claude asked

"Only if you wish to pursue Kung Fu with him" the Triad replied "where you must be able to beat Wu Zi Mu"

"If it must be, I will try and beat him, but all I wanted do was work for him" Claude said walking towards the door of the dojo.

Claude strolled into the dojo. The place was decorated completely in red and gold, the ceiling was very high and the floor was matted with a blue mat in the centre of the room, apart from the front of the dojo which had a wooden floor. A Chinese man wearing a black coat tied with a black belt and trousers walked up to him.

"Hello I am the dojo master" he said "how may I help you?"

"I wish to see Wu Zi Mu" Claude replied

"I doubt he would speak to you, he swore an oath to only talk to…"

"I know" Claude interrupted "I wish to pursue Kung Fu with him"

"I know your wishes are not filled with malice, but don't you want to practice with me first?" the dojo master asked

"No" Claude said

"But he is so skilled he could kill you" the dojo master exclaimed

"Please fetch him" Claude replied

"If you insist" the dojo master said giving up his advice and fetched him

A few minutes later Wu Zi Mu, dressed completely in white walked out of the back room. As Lee had described he had long white hair and a long white beard.

"Hello, I hear you wish to battle me using the art of Kung Fu?" Wu Zi Mu asked

"No, not really, I wish to work with you Wu Zi Mu" Claude replied

"Please call me Woozie, and I have an oath not to speak to people that aren't pursuing Kung Fu" Woozie said "apart from Chinese and ZPF"

"How did you not know I wasn't Chinese?" Claude asked

"I have a mental picture in my head of everything, where it comes from I am unsure, but it replaces me being blind, over time it has become clearer and clearer" Woozie said

"Well I would wish to speak to you" Claude said

"To not be Chinese or ZPF and speak to me, you have to fight me anyway" Woozie said

"So be it" Claude replied "but I have completely no Kung Fu skills"

"Okay what skills do you have?" Woozie asked

"Weapon and fighting skills" Claude replied

"Okay, how about an American style gun fight?" Woozie asked

"Only if there's some reward" Claude said

"Okay, if you can place one bullet in my skin, I will hand you over ten thousand dollars" Woozie said

"That is easy" Claude replied

"It's not as easy as you think" Woozie said "go on, try it"

"What without a vest or anything, just shoot you like that" Claude said

"Yep" Woozie said

"Okay" Claude said "if you insist"

Claude quickly pulled a Colt 45 out of his black jacket pocket and pulled the trigger at Wu Zi Mu. He expected to see him clutching at his chest in pain and pints of blood bursting from his body but he was standing there in his white gown as if nothing had happened. The bullet had completely missed him.

"What the…" Claude muttered dumbfounded

"Yes, it completely missed didn't it" Woozie said with a smirk

Claude shot again, it missed, he shot two more times and they all missed.

"What the f-ck is going on?" Claude asked

"I used to ask the same question, about twenty-five years ago, now I just ignore it as one of they little quirks people have" Woozie replied

"You can dodge bullets?" Claude asked still in a state of shock

"I don't have to" Woozie replied "I'll explain what happened, it just happened one day way back in San Fierro 2005, there was an assassination attempt on my life, I was sitting outside a café in Chinatown when these five 'Da Nang Boys' rolled up in a Banshee and blasted at me. Not one bullet touched me and they had blasted whole rounds of Uzi's at me, they hit the table, the chair, even hit a Triad sitting beside me, but not me, I wondered how this could happen, was it some mysterious force protecting me? I became interested in the art of Kung Fu like my ancestors"

"This mysterious force came from your ancestors?" Claude asked still mystified

"No, I read up on it, every few years a mysterious force is placed on someone in this world, it makes them almost invincible, they are not in danger from anything physical, bullets and blades almost stop like a force field is stopping them" Woozie said "when the person dies, it is given to another soul in this world"

"Is this got anything to do with you going into a recluse?" Claude asked

"It has everything to do with me being in a recluse, I am afraid that some opposing gang decides to take a shot at me, but not how people are normally afraid of the these things, I'm afraid that people know I can't be shot at" Woozie replied

"So what do you do then?" Claude asked

"I just stay in this dojo, practice my Kung Fu techniques, bless whatever gives me this skill" Woozie replied

"May I work with you?" Claude asked

"It feels hard to say no" Woozie said "I wouldn't usually pick some random street person who walks into my dojo and asks to work for me, but somehow I want you to work for me"

"Do you really?" Claude asked "and I don't have to kung-fu fight you?"

"No you don't" Woozie said "you may take this case of ten thousand dollars"

"Why?" Claude asked

"I don't know, I don't know why I picked you out of every person in the world to tell you my little quirk either" Woozie said

"Okay, if you insist" Claude said

"And I'll call you back for any more work" Woozie said

Claude made his way back to the door of the dojo but then Woozie called to him.

"One last thing" Woozie said "I have to remind you that we are not related in any way to the old Liberty City Triads, we are derived from the San Fierro Triads, we don't wear the colour blue, we originate from a completely different Chinese City as well, we're from Beijing and they're from Peking"

"Hang on…" Claude said quickly being interrupted by Wu Zi Mu

"Please don't question my knowledge" Woozie said

Claude stepped out of the dojo and back into his futuristic red car. He sped his way towards Arbo.

"No, you're kidding me right?" Lee asked angrily

"I'm telling the truth" Claude replied

"C'mon, stop f-cking with me, next you're going to tell me the word gullible isn't in the dictionary" Lee said

"I'm not" Claude said

"Well, it isn't, Zaibatsu banned the use of that word" Lee replied

"Trust me; that is what he told me, and he showed me, I shot four caps at him, they all missed" Claude stated again

"You're being for real, aren't you?" Lee said

"It's completely true" Claude said "just don't tell anyone"

They sat in silence staring at each other for a few seconds.

"Never mind that, did you get any money?" Lee asked

"Ten thousand dollars in cash" Claude replied

Claude opened the briefcase and Lee counted it.

"Do you think we can begin this state of emergency yet?" Lee asked

"Wait another few weeks until I've got some money from the Rednecks, Krishna's, Scientists and Loonies" Claude replied


	11. Tale 2 Chapter 10 Misty

**Chapter 10 – Misty**

_Red Valdez, Shoreside Vale, Liberty City, 2003_

Red was doing some photo shoots at a local photography place in his white suit that he still loved. It was his twenty-first birthday so he was being photographed beside tacky white cakes with twenty-one candles on top and the number twenty one. After the long boring photo shoot he walked back into the car park, and jumped into his red Kuruma muttering about how he had to do this same thing last year, except he was twenty last year. Well at least he owned the media now. Since Donald Love had went missing two years before, Red asked for none of the news of his disappearance to be in the papers, like they would just forget about him, surprisingly it actually worked, he was still in Dr. LaBratt's basement.

He turned the key in the ignition of the Red Kuruma, pressed down on the accelerator and the car sped off onto the street, the photo studio was only a few blocks from his house, the radio had been turned to a new station that played fifty's music. As he neared his mansion he suddenly braked in the middle of the street. He heard beeps of the horn and frantic yells of the confused drivers behind him. What had stopped him so suddenly in the middle of the road was the door of his mansion was lying wide open, and it looked as if some of the furniture had been upturned. Uno wasn't in Liberty City; he had been attending some special business elsewhere in America.

He turned into his driveway, quickly stepped out of the car and pulled his Colt 45 out of his white suit pocket. Slowly he stepped towards the door of the mansion, as he walked up the steps he noticed white powder had been spilt everywhere inside the door, it was obviously cocaine. He closed the door behind him and slowly sneaked into the hall and stood beside the doorway of the living room, he then quickly aimed his gun inside the living room. The room was inhabited by a girl wearing pink, who was lying on the floor unconscious with a large smile placed on her face. As he stepped in the room she suddenly woke up to Red aiming the gun for her head.

"What the f-ck are you doing in my house?" Red asked her

"U…Uno took me here" the girl said

"Uno, where is he?" Red asked

"I'm here" a voice said in the background

As Uno staggered through from the kitchen, the first thing Red noticed was he looked stoned.

"Hey Red, join in the party?" Uno said

"Uno, can I ask who this tart is and why did you bring her here?" Red asked

She frowned in disgust and mumbled "tart?" to herself.

"This so-called 'tart' is our next business opportunity my friend" Uno said "we are going to make some money with this girl"

"What is her name?" Red asked still holding the gun to the girls head

"Her name's…" Uno began but she suddenly interrupted

"My name's Misty" she spoke

"Okay, so Uno, how is this our next business opportunity?" Red asked

"I met her on the flight, she was the air hostess" Uno replied

"What do we want with some air hostess?" Red asked

"She smuggles cocaine out from any border, we can make some money from Mexico especially, Mexicans will accept the dearest prices because it's so hard to find" Uno replied

Red placed the gun back in his pocket.

"Uno, why when I walked into _my_ house just now did I find my front door wide open, some of my furniture upturned and around a thousand pounds worth of cocaine spilt everywhere?" Red asked

"We decided to throw a bit of a party, so I got a parcel of cocaine I had lying about, then some marijuana and some vodka I found in the fridge" Uno replied still smiling "what are you worrying about anyway, you own the media"

Red suddenly was pumped full of fury.

"Uno, am I missing something on your little escapade you had with this tart Misty, did you go and take over the entire of Liberty City's police force?" Red asked

"No, of course I didn't" Uno said "why…"

"Well that means we can still be caught by them then, doesn't it" Red said

"I thought we paid them off?" Uno asked

"Yes, we paid _a _police captain off, a second in charge one, just to keep a little bit of a blind eye on minor crimes" Red replied still in anger "so when a policemen sees a door wide open and cocaine spilt everywhere, he's going to think there's been a robbery, meaning the place will be swarming with policemen in a few seconds if this policeman goes straight to the head of police in Liberty City, so that will be our clean reputation gone, our business gone, no twenty-second birthday photo shoot for me"

"Oh well, we didn't get caught, go and have a line Red, just one line" Uno said still in a fit of smiles

"F-ck you, I won't touch that crap in my life, f-cks up your nose" Red shouted "I thought you weren't into that stuff Uno, and I thought you being a legal representative would know better"

"I'm not usually" Uno replied "just wanted to celebrate this business deal"

"Oh and Uno, I want this tart out" Red demanded

"Oh, can we not keep her?" Uno asked

"I knew she was a dog" Red replied having the last laugh

Misty again frowned and fell into an unconscious sleep.


	12. Tale 1 Chapter 11 That Ol' Redneck

**Chapter 11 – That Ol' Redneck**

_Claude Speed, Guntersville, Metropolis City, 2030_

Claude Speed pulled up on the sidewalk near the fenced in building where Lee had stole the diamonds from, it had been around a week since Lee had rushed off with the diamonds and now Claude was nervous he would be recognized by one of the Rednecks. He decided it wasn't a wise idea to drive his red car to the Rednecks area, so he grabbed a white van on the way there. As he got out the van, he briskly walked into the fenced-off area at a leisurely pace. Suddenly someone ran in front of him aiming a double-barrelled shotgun to his head, inches away from him. The man had a long brown-haired mullet, a white vest, blue jeans; he was wearing a baseball cap and only had about half of his teeth left, the ones that were left were mostly broken or yellow.

"You think you can just wander on ma territory?" the man asked in a deep Southern accent

"Yes, I was wishing to see Billy Bob Bean, the leader of the Rednecks" Claude asked

"You're speakin' to 'im" the man replied

"You're Billy Bob Bean?" Claude asked rhetorically

"You ain't wrong bud" Billy replied placing the shotgun on his back holster "come in ma house, have some whisky and you tell me what Billy can do for you"

Billy led him into the factory and then into a room where a slightly overweight lady and an old man with a white beard was sitting.

"What's your name bud?" Billy asked

"No Claude" Claude replied

Billy let out a chuckle showing his horrible buck teeth.

"Bud is just a term I call my frien's" Billy said "although I do have a son called Budd"

"Right" Claude replied

"Please, have a seat an, meet ma sister and wife Mary-Lou Bean, and ma dear ol' dad Bill Bean Sr." Billy said "I'll fetch ya some whisky"

"Did he say you're his sister _and _wife?" Claude asked Mary-Lou

"Yeah hun" Mary-Lou replied "the wedding was a breeze, no need to remember awkward surnames when it's your own brother"

"Okay" Claude replied slightly freaked out "and how's his 'dear ol' Dad'?"

"Mighty fine" his Dad replied "hey you look a young 'un, have you ever tried possum?"

"I can't say I have" Claude replied

"You have to try it some time…" Billy's father was suddenly interrupted by Billy himself arriving back holding a bottle of whisky

"Ignore my ol' Dad there, he says that to every guest we get, even tries to tell us sometimes, we've heard it for years, ever since he got amnesia and tha' plate in his head, ya know he even phoned up a radio station one time and told tha' bored presenter all about it" Billy explained pouring the whisky into one of the dirtiest mugs Claude had seen, Claude took one sip just to be kind and put the mug as far away from him as he could

"Wonderful, makes interesting mealtime conversation doesn't it" Claude replied sarcastically "along with how wonderful the honeymoon with your sister was"

"Oh, that was good" Mary-Lou explained "we lived in an ol' Texas trailer for a fortnight, jus' like ol' times"

"Yeah, my ol' Dad use to take us all over America, from Liberty to Shirago, he took us god damn everywhere" Billy said

"Yeah, I remember once I tasted possum, you should try that stuff…" his Dad tried to explain

"Oh knock it off Dad" Billy said annoyed

Suddenly a man also in a white vest, this one had a southern flag painted on, aged in his twenties, had short brown hair with similarly awful teeth came through holding a piece of paper.

"Dad" the man said also in a "I jus' got a notification from the university, there going to accep' me"

"Well Cletus that matters how much it costs?" Billy replied

"Ten dollars, and the coupon out of the Zaibatsu Tree" Cletus replied

"That's fine" Billy agreed with a nod

"Who is this coon?" Cletus asked pointing to Claude

"This ain't a coon" Billy replied

"Well, he ain't getting into my family blood like a coon, he better leave quickly or he's getting some lead in his head" Cletus replied to Billy "understand bud" he said to Claude

"Get outta here!" Billy said throwing the first thing he found on the chair which was a dishcloth "tha' son shows no respect, you ain't no coon, you ain't black"

"Don't you hate the way they've screwed up the American flag?" Claude asked

"Yeah, wish they used tha Southern one with tha cross" Billy replied

"I mean they've replaced the stars with the Zaibatsu star" Claude answered

"I hate Zaibatsu, only group I hate more than a coon" Billy replied "you haven't touched ya whisky bud"

"Sorry, I never much gathered a taste for whisky" Claude replied trying to be nice

"You must be seventeen or eighteen" Billy replied "so what can Billy do for you bud?"

"Do you have any work I could do?" Claude asked

"Yeah, I got a blocked toilet downstairs, you can clean that up" Billy replied

Claude sat in confusion for a few seconds taking it in.

"I meant any work of a _criminal _nature" Claude re-explained

"In fact I do, some ol' yella-bellied scum, broke into my factory last week and stole my finest diamonds outta ma safe, had sentimental value, had them for twenty-five years just for some tanned scum-bag to break in and snatch 'em, I sent a few of my men out to catch 'im, Cletus even lent a hand, ain't found 'im yet" Billy explained "so I'm offering you, if you find this scumbag within a week, get ma diamonds back, and kill him, I'll give you ten thousand dollars, how 'bout that"

"How about we raise the stakes a bit" Claude replied "how about you give me twenty-four hours to find him"

"That's being a bit cruel" Billy said "so if ya don't find him before tomorrow you won't get nothin'"

"I'm willing to take that risk" Claude explained

"Suit yaself" Billy replied

"Do you have any clues of what this person looks like?" Claude asked trying to increase the redneck's trust"

"Yeah, the scumbag is tanned" Billy said "oh and one of my men said he had brown eyes, if ya trust him, he has a pho… photo… photogr… what tha heck's that word?"

"Photographic?" Claude suggested

"That's the word" Billy replied

As Claude walked away Billy called him.

"Oh and Claude" Billy replied "try and bring back one of 'is eyes"

"You want his eye?" Claude questioned

"Yeah, I wanna keep it so I remember tha scum that took ma diamonds, and it would give a certain touch to ma living room" Billy replied

"He wants to take my eye?" Lee asked in shock

"Yeah, I'm going to have to take it Lee" Claude replied

Claude was back at the house explaining the events to Lee.

"I can't give him the diamonds either, you'll have to tell him you failed" Lee replied "especially not my eye, I'll look like a pirate"

"We'll get ten thousand dollars for the diamonds" Claude tried to persuade him

"You can't get them anyway, I pawned them" Lee explained

"You pawned them" Claude said "who to?"

"Some guy who owned a tacky shop in Omnitron" Lee explained "called 'Elvis's Pawn Shop'"

"Am I thinking what I think it is?" Claude asked

"Yes it's a shop owned by someone who has an Elvis fixation, dons the full gear while serving" Lee replied

"I'm going to get them back" Claude said

"No you're not, I got five thousand dollars for them, and that's mine" Lee replied

"Well, I'll have to kill him then" Claude said "that would be even better, you get to keep the five thousand dollars, and I get ten thousand dollars for us"

He walked towards the door.

"And when I come back, I want your eye" Claude said pointing to Lee

"Just grab Elvis's eye" Lee replied

"The redneck knows your eyes are brown, what colour's Elvis's eye?" Claude asked

"How the f-ck should I know, I only saw him for two minutes while I handed the diamonds over" Lee shouted

"You just better f-cking hope his eyes are brown" Claude replied before walking over to his van

"If you go, I'll torch your red car" Lee shouted in a last minute moment to stop him

"Torch it then, see if I care" Claude yelled stepping into the van

He turned the ignition and pushed the accelerator, around ten minutes later he was on the sidewalk in Omnitron in front of 'Elvis's Pawn Shop'. The shop was painted with peeling white paint, and was lettered in bold red lettering on the front made out of metal, the 'P' was hanging off the sign, ready to fall off onto the street. There was a large dusty shop window; inside there was a man with short black hair and glasses filling on a form on the customer's side of the counter. Claude walked in casually and stood a few feet away from him.

"Hello" the customer greeted

"Hi, where's Elvis?" Claude asked

"Around the back getting my product I pawned a few weeks ago" the man replied

"How much does he look like Elvis?" Claude asked

"Not at all" the man whispered "I'm glad I'm not recruiting Elvis's for an Elvis look-alike contest"

"All I can say is if we're still inspired by Elvis fifty years after his death we are totally screwed" Claude replied

"Yeah, too overrated" the man replied slightly louder

"Did you dis-respect Elvis there?" a voice from the background asked

A man suddenly walked through carrying a chainsaw. He was wearing a white vaguely Elvis looking suit, had a very fake black Elvis wig. Apart from that, he looked nothing like Elvis.

"N…" the customer tried to say before being interrupted by Claude

"Yeah we did" Claude said

"Well, I'd thank you very much if you didn't because it makes me all shook up" Elvis said handing the customer the chainsaw, in the least attempted Elvis accent, not even an Elvis accent. The customer stepped out the door, and walked along the street.

"If you continue with this I will be doing the jailhouse rock very shortly" Claude said "because you're face won't be able to be recognized, not even by the forensics"

"What can I do you for?" Elvis asked almost if Claude hadn't said something vaguely threatening

"Yes, my friend pawned some diamonds, he'd like to buy them back" Claude lied

"I'll be back before you can say Blue Suede Shoes" Elvis said walking into the back of the shop.

Claude briefly took out his Colt 45, checked it was loaded properly and placed it back in his pocket. Elvis walked back through holding the case of diamonds.

"Now if you've got the forms your friend filled in and the five thousand dollars, you can have the diamonds right away" Elvis mentioned

"Nope, I haven't got the forms with me" Claude replied smugly

"Well, I'm sorry to put you in the heartbreak hotel, but if you don't have the forms I can't give you the diamonds" Elvis replied

"Why won't you give me the diamonds without the form?" Claude asked

"Well I don't have suspicious minds, it's one of my policies" Elvis replied

"What if I blasted you with this gun instead?" Claude asked pulling out his Colt 45 and aiming it towards him

"I would blast your wooden heart with this double barrelled shotgun underneath the counter" Elvis replied

"I wonder who would shoot first." Claude said replacing the Colt 45 back in his pocket

They stared at each other for seconds, not daring to move in case the other shot at the other. Their eyes started to dry up waiting for the other to blink. Suddenly Claude raised his Colt 45 and pulled on the trigger. This happened in a few hundredths of a second, but to Claude it felt like minutes. Elvis suddenly fell back and onto the floor, with a gaping hole in his head splashing blood everywhere.

"Maybe if you gave a little less conversation you would have lived" Claude said to the bloody corpse, grabbing the case of diamonds off the counter and setting them on the floor.

He looked into the Elvis impersonator's eyes, they were brown. Claude clutched a flick-knife out of his pocket and began work on Elvis's right eye. A few minutes later Claude jumped back into his van, he called Lee immediately.

"Hello Lee" Claude greeted

"Hello Claude" Lee replied "did you get the diamonds?"

"I did" Claude replied "from the worst Elvis impersonator ever"

"Did you manage to get his eye?" Lee asked

Claude though for a minute and with a smirk said "No, I couldn't they were green".

Lee suddenly hung-up, Claude chuckled and thought to himself 'That'll keep him on his toes until I get back.'


	13. Tale 2 Chapter 12 The Rift

**Chapter 12 – The Rift**

_Uno Carboni, Zaibatsu Pharmaceuticals Headquarters, Staunton Island, Liberty City, 2004_

"Here's the money" Dr. LaBrat said handing over a large brown satchel

"That's an awful large satchel from the one you gave me last week" Uno replied

"Well, I just released Equinox 2.0 this week" Dr. LaBrat replied

"You're kidding, I didn't even know that" Uno said shocked no-one had told him

"I told Red over the phone, I thought he would have told you" Dr. LaBrat replied

"I'm supposed to be his legal advisor" Uno replied

Uno had taken his weekly drive over the Shoreside Lift Bridge to collect Zaibatsu Pharmaceuticals takings, which Dr. LaBrat collected for him. Zaibatsu had a small building in Staunton Island; it didn't look like a building where a multi-million dollar organisation who owned the media operated. Looked like a grubby small business.

"I'm unhappy with Red Valdez" Dr. LaBrat said in a serious tone

"What did he say?" Uno asked "was it on the phone?"

"He's said nothing, it's what he has done" Dr. LaBrat replied

"What has he done to you?" Uno asked now worried how his friend had upset Dr. LaBrat

"Well, I was watching the news yesterday, the _Zaibatsu_ news, why has he strayed so far from his original business, what has reading out the news and making pharmaceuticals got to do with each other?" Dr. LaBrat asked

"Oh I see, you're upset he stops running Zaibatsu Pharmaceuticals" Uno replied

"I'm upset I lose my job" Dr. LaBrat replied "the only way I get to update my Equinox is from Red Valdez's funding, I'm worried if he stops making pharmaceuticals, I'll have to go into criminal activities to raise money"

"I don't think Red will stop in the pharmaceutical business" Uno replied

"If he does, I won't be able to speak to him again, even if he invites me to join his media empire, I won't be joining because I will only participate in the pharmaceuticals business" Dr. LaBrat explained

"I can't take your side officially, because I'm Red's legal advisor, but…" he began whispering "…I agree, he should concentrate more on the pharmaceutical business"

"Just the other day, at the opening of Equinox 2.0 I met a father and his son; the father said his son was hyperactive, so he gave him Equinox to stop him being hyperactive, it worked, in fact he doesn't even smile now" Dr. LaBrat explained

"You mean it depressed him?" Uno asked

Dr. LaBrat nodded in agreement.

"I thought it was supposed to do the exact opposite" Uno exclaimed

"It was, but it has different symptoms for different people" Dr. LaBrat exclaimed

"So who was this kid that got depressed from it?" Uno asked

"A two year old kid named Bob, at least if he isn't hyperactive he won't go around robbing banks and getting shot when he's older" Dr. LaBrat said looking at the positive side

"Anyway what else have you been doing?" Uno asked

"Well technology has increased in the last few years so I've found out how to clone someone in less than a year like Red asked, I've found a chemical which speeds up reactions, so he wants me to clone an army of forty-seven super-humans to help him, from the DNA of three criminals, and you two" Dr. LaBrat explained

"Oh yes" Uno replied

"And, cryogenic freezing is just getting better and better, what are you planning to do with the first cryogenic experiment?" Dr. LaBrat asked

"Keep him in your basement for a while, he's supposed to be missing" Uno replied

"If I knew he wanted me to freeze him solely for the use of acquiring Love Media, I would never have helped him" Dr. LaBrat replied

"Hey, don't worry; I'll make sure he keeps Zaibatsu Pharmaceuticals running" Uno replied "I'm his legal advisor remember"

Dr. LaBrat nodded and asked sarcastically "So what sort of work do you do now?"

"Well, the media business is going well for Red, and this girl called Misty, she's delivering cocaine to Mexico and Canada for loads of dollars, we're making millions" Uno said

"Wow, and I'm making all the money for you in the pharmaceuticals end" Dr. LaBrat replied

"Oh come on, you know that pharmaceuticals will always be Red's passion" Uno replied

"Is that along with wearing a white suit and reading the Zaibatsu Tree?" Dr. LaBrat asked

"No, I'm leaving, gotta get back with the money, just in case Red gets scared" Uno said walking towards the exit doorway.

"Oh and if Zaibatsu isn't running in fifteen years time" Uno said finally "I'll eat my hat"

He walked out the door and into the car, back towards the mansion in Shoreside Vale.


	14. Tale 1 Chapter 13 Flame of Krishna

**Chapter 13 – Flame of Krishna**

_Claude Speed, Vedic Temple, Metropolis City, 2030_

Claude was on a roll. He had successfully worked for the Yakuza, Triads and the Rednecks. He had successfully given Billy Bob Bean's diamonds and received the money, even though Billy Bob Bean was a racist redneck, Claude and Lee needed money if they were to successfully overthrow the Zaibatsu Party. Now it was time to visit the third last gang on the list, the Krishna's. The gang's headquarters was one of the most unusual on the list; it was an old Krishna temple beside a beach in the Industrial sector. Claude parked the car in the car park and walked up to the old orange dusty temple. The place was deserted, not a Krishna in sight, if there really was any other people in the gang, that's what Lee had said to him, but Claude was starting to doubt it. He walked up to the large orange door of the temple and knocked twice. He noticed engraved on the door it said 'Vedic Temple'. Suddenly the door was opened and a small Indian man wearing a brown cloak and holding a walking stick answered the door. He had a small white moustached above his lips.

"How may I help you friend?" the man asked

"Hello I'm Claude, you must be Sunbeam?" Claude asked

"Indeed I am, how can I help you?" Sunbeam asked

"Do you have any work for me?" Claude asked

"I do have one job I was going to get one of my men to do?" Sunbeam replied "come in, and I'll fix you something to drink"

Claude stepped into the temple and followed this old Indian, Claude couldn't believe this man was a gang leader; he looked like he should have retired years ago.

"I'm glad you're willing to help me" Claude said

"Oh yes, I'm willing to help anyone, especially someone as youthful as you, reminds me of my days in the taxis" Sunbeam said

"You worked in the taxis?" Claude asked

"Oh yes, long ago, in the nineteen seventies, before I found the glorious faith of Krishna" Sunbeam replied

They were walking down a hall with a gigantically high ceiling also dark orange; there were loads of statues of nameless gods on both sides.

"On both sides there's some of our most important gods" Sunbeam replied

"Who do you live with in this place?" Claude asked

"There's only me who lives in this place, I'm the only one who's devoted their life to Krishna" Sunbeam replied

"Doesn't it get lonely?" Claude asked

Sunbeam chuckled like he'd just said some funny joke.

"With Krishna I'm never lonely, I pray to him every day in my praying room of the temple" Sunbeam replied

They suddenly came into a large square room also with a high ceiling, there was a large couch in the middle of the room, have a seat and I'll fetch you something. Claude took a seat and marvelled at the largeness of the room, and how large the entire temple was. Sunbeam came back through holding two golden cups filled with a brown liquid substance and handed Claude one. Claude looked at it for a few seconds and politely asked what it was.

"Its special tea Claude, take a sip" Sunbeam said

Claude took a sip of the brown liquid he called tea, it blew his mind, and it felt like he had just been smashed on the head with a large mallet, at the same time it felt like he was stoned. He had to hold on to the sofa to save himself from falling off.

"What the f-ck is this stuff?" Claude asked

"Please don't swear in the temple of Krishna" Sunbeam commanded "and it's special tea one of my men bought as a present for me a few days ago from a woman, now what was her name again… I think it was Ms. Poulet, old Haitian lady"

"S...so what else aren't you allowed to do?" Claude asked still spinning in circles because of the tea

"I'm not allowed to leave the temple, I must stay here and worship Krishna till the day I die, and thereafter if I get accepted into his garden of Krishna, I'm not allowed to swear, drink alcohol, I'm not allowed to eat sugar, salt, animals, animal products, things that stain my teeth, I can't speak to anyone that has a different religion, I'm not allowed to commit adultery, if I had a wife, I'm not allowed to steal, and I'm not allowed to steal or be involved with someone who is stealing, I'm especially not allowed to murder or be involved with someone's who a murderer" Sunbeam replied

"I'm sorry I asked now, can you talk to me?" Claude asked

"I wouldn't be able to in the prayer room anyway" Sunbeam replied

"So what sort of job have you got for me?" Claude asked

"I want you to kill Billy Bob Bean" Sunbeam replied

"Okay, I'll do it… wait a minute, I thought you weren't allowed to murder or be involved with someone who's a murderer?" Claude asked

"Not usually, but I prayed to Krishna this morning, and he allowed it this one time, only because Billy Bob Bean is a racist" Sunbeam replied

"You've got a lenient god" Claude muttered

"Sorry?" Sunbeam enquired

"Nothing, so why do you want to kill him?" Claude asked

"We went to sign a peace treaty a few weeks ago, all of the gangs were meeting up, all the leaders were there apart from me" Sunbeam told him

"Johnny Zoo wasn't there too" Claude added "he was in Neo-Tokyo"

"How do you know that, so you know the story?" Sunbeam asked

"Yes, the rednecks opened fire on everyone in cold blood, I heard about it from a Yakuza man I met" Claude said

"He shot a few of my finest men, I couldn't find the right person to avenge them for me but now I think I have found the right man in you, can I count on you?" Sunbeam asked

"I will try, how would you like me to get him?" Claude asked

"Burn him with tinder and petrol, set him alight with the power of Krishna!" Sunbeam exclaimed now shouting

"Go forth now; turn the racist and his domain into ashes!" Sunbeam yelled again

Claude ran as fast as he could out of the temple and towards his van in the empty car park, the he stopped and said to himself.

'Hang on, when they see that white van they'll know it's me' Claude thought to himself

He looked around for a vehicle but of course there wasn't one. That was until he noticed a yellow bicycle secured to the metal fence on to a rusty chain. Someone must have left it there for some reason. Claude walked over to it and pulled the bicycle off, the chain disintegrated into ashes and he grabbed the bike. He drove back to Lee's house in Arbo; he was going to have to wait until night time when the Rednecks were asleep.

As the clock began ticking towards midnight Claude dressed is the darkest clothes he could find, and found an old black balaclava. He then found a can of petrol in the garage and picked up a box of matches. Placing the can on the bicycle, he then placed the balaclava firmly over his face. He jumped on the bicycle and began cycling along the streets. Guntersville was only a few blocks away from Arbo as he had noticed the last two times he had been there. He was beginning to near the fence of Billy Bob Bean's factory; he broke and jumped off the bike. Grabbing the petrol can he began walking into the grounds of the factory and muttered to himself 'Time for the burn'. He sneaked into the factory quietly and into the door. He could hear snoring in the background; he snuck into the room where he had had the conversation with Billy Bob Bean. He opened the can of petrol and poured it all over the couch as much as he could, the more petrol on it the bigger the fire. He could feel the tension, sweat was dripping off him and onto the cotton of the clothing he was wearing soaking it like a sponge. He slowly took the box of matches out of his pocket, looked at it for a minute, and took a match out. He stroke the match and was about to drop it and go out the doorway when he was halted.

"What tha' heck are you doing, coon?" the voice said

Claude recognized it right away, the voice was Cletus. He was standing in the doorway armed with a double barrelled shotgun. In a state of panic he threw the match down and made a dive for the window, smashing through the glass. There was a burst of flames behind him, Cletus was engulfed and he could feel the flames singeing his clothing as he landed on the ground. He ran as fast as he could towards the bicycle. Five rednecks wearing white shirts with the southern flag burst out of the door and started chasing after him. He climbed on the bike and pedalled as fast as he could. As he looked behind him he could see the rednecks were driving a truck. He turned a few corners, as he turned he could hear the screech of the tires of the truck. He saw an opening of a grey narrow alleyway so he quickly turned and the truck followed. As he continued pedalling almost exhaustedly, the alleyway was coming to a dead end. He decided to chance his luck; he grabbed the Colt 45 out of his pocket and jumped off the bike in one motion. He landed back on the ground and blasted as many shots as he could towards the truck, as the bike hit the stone wall of the dead end. The truck smashed into the side of the alleyway, inches from hitting him. All was silent for a few seconds; Claude breathed a sigh of relief. He slowly walked over to the door of the truck and roughly pulled the door open aiming his gun towards the door. They were almost all dead apart from one redneck that was paralysed.

"Please, spare ma life" he muttered in a wheeze "I'll do anything for ya, I'm paralysed"

Claude looked at him at his most helpless, aimed at the redneck's head and pulled the trigger in cold blood. It blasted straight for the redneck's head and left a gaping hole, drenching the entire interior of the car with thick crimson blood. Knowing all the rednecks were dead he pulled the balaclava off that was now soaking in sweat and threw it to his side. He was beginning to walk back to the opening of the alleyway, when something caught his attention; in the back of the truck was an object very familiar. It was the case of the diamonds now labelled with 'To the Bank of Metropolis', this must've been Billy's truck. He raised a smirk, grabbed the case of diamonds and walked back to the opening of the alleyway carrying the case of diamonds. He had killed two birds with one stone.


	15. Tale 2 Chapter 14 Experiment 43

**Chapter 14 – Experiment 43**

_Red Valdez, Zaibatsu Pharmaceuticals Headquarters, Staunton Island, Liberty City, 2005_

Red and Uno were standing in the car park outside the headquarters of Zaibatsu Pharmaceuticals.

"How on earth did you do it Uno?" Red asked him

"What, how did I manage to purchase Juank Air?" Uno asked

"Yeah" Red replied

"I just asked them if I could buy it, and they agreed, I don't know why they let me" Uno said "anyway, it means we don't even need Misty to smuggle coke in, we can just load as much as we can fit in the back of the plane, as long as the police don't see it, it's fine"

"So we don't need Misty anymore?" Red asked

"Well she can bring a suitcase full of cocaine with her as well" Uno replied

"So are we going to change the name of the airlines then?" Red asked

"Of course we are, I never liked the name Juank air, I always thought it sounded like it was an innuendo" Uno replied

"What innuendo is that?" Red asked innocently

Uno looked in surprise and sarcastically said "I'll tell you when you're older"

"I guess the clones are ready then?" Uno asked

"Yeah" Red said with some excitement "forty-seven clones that can help me"

"Who were they cloned from?" Uno asked

"They were cloned from us two, a gangster named Sweet from Los Santos, a Russian named Jerkov and a young Yakuza named Johnny Zoo, I chose these particular three for their particular skills, Sweet is good at hand to hand combat, Jerkov has superb weapon skills and Johnny Zoo has samurai skills" Red replied

"Wow, these clones are going to have everything" Uno replied

"I think it's about time we went in to see the clones" Red replied

They began walking towards the entrance. They were about in the entrance when a bald man wearing a navy jacket, black trousers and a navy wide rimmed hat stepped out of the door and brushed past Red briefly saying "Good morning".

"He must have dealings with Zaibatsu pharmaceuticals" Red said

"In what field is he involved?" Uno asked

"It could be anything, he may wish to buy Equinox 2.0 or he may be a distributor, who knows, let's go upstairs and find out from Dr. LaBrat" Red replied

"That man looked kind of familiar, I'm sure I've seen him somewhere before" Uno said

"Maybe you saw him in another life?" Red asked humorously

"No, I don't know, maybe I'm dreaming" Uno replied shrugging it off

They walked into the office where Dr. LaBrat was working at his computer. He looked up and smiled.

"Ah hello, how are you Red and Uno?" Dr. LaBrat asked

"Hello, we're here to see these wonderful clones you cloned for me" Red replied

"Yes, there down in the basement, it only took a year to get them to the age of mid-twenties thanks to that wonderful chemical that made the reactions speed up, that's the age when there at their best, they'll stay that way forever because I added a chemical that stops growing altogether, I also added a chemical in the brain that stops them thinking for themselves, they'll follow any order, you can shout any order to any particular number, and they'll do it without question" Dr. LaBrat said

"They're numbered?" Red asked

"Yes, they know their number inside their head, and they have there numbers stamped on their chest, you can even get them lined up in numerical order" Dr. LaBrat said

"And there have been no problems so far?" Red asked

"Well, there was one particular clone who the chemical that takes away thinking for themselves didn't seem to be working, he wasn't following orders, he even stole a packet of one of the scientists cigarettes, and began smoking them, we took them off him, but he refused to do anything if we didn't let him smoke, he's now a chain smoker, but he seems to respond" Dr. LaBrat explained

"Who was that customer we saw?" Red asked

"Which customer, there's been no-one this morning" Dr. LaBrat replied in confusion

"Well we saw a bald man leave the building, he had a navy hat and jacket" Uno confirmed

"Maybe he had the wrong building or something" Dr. LaBrat replied "he certainly had no dealing with me"

"Can we see these clones now?" Red asked changing the subject

"Yes, we shall visit them in the laboratory in the basement" Dr. LaBrat said standing up from his seat

Dr. LaBrat took them down the stairs to the front hall where the doorway they had came in was, he then took them down some dark stairs towards the basement, they opened the glass door that had a white frame. When they walked into the laboratory there smiles were cleaned off their faces. The laboratory was covered with blood and there were five dead bodies lying strewn across the floor.

"I'm sorry Red and Uno, but something unexpected has happened" Dr. LaBrat "I'm sorry"

They continued into a room where the clones were kept, sitting down holding his bloody arm which had been slashed with something.

"Are you okay?" Dr. LaBrat asked the scientist

"I've just been knifed by one of the clones" the scientist yelled

"What happened?" Dr. LaBrat asked

"We let them out for their breakfast, after they finished eating our nutritious breakfast we had set out for them we were putting them back into their cells, one of the clones suddenly found a knife in one of the scientists pockets, made a grab for it and ran for the lab door, anyone that tried to stop him got knifed, they're all dead apart from me" the scientist explained

"How did a knife get in here?" Dr. LaBrat asked "you're meant to be the head scientist"

"Sorry I slipped up, it's not my fault" the scientist replied

"You slipped up indeed; you're meant to check all scientists for any objects that are not allowed" Dr. LaBrat explained

"Yes" the scientist replied trying to stop the blood flowing out of his arm "but you were supposed to have put a chemical in their embryos which prevented them for thinking for themselves"

"You're right" Dr. LaBrat said in realisation "it's my fault, not you or the scientist that had the knife"

"I now recognize that man who passed us" Uno said

"Who was it?" Red asked

"The last time I saw it was when I looked in the mirror and when I look at you" Uno replied

"We passed one of the clones on the way in" Red said in realisation "I thought I recognized these clones when I came in"

"How was he wearing a navy hat and jacket?" Uno asked

"I think that's mine, he stole them off the coat rack" the scientist said

"We have to find out which one's missing now" Dr. LaBrat said

"Easy" the scientist replied "just check which cell is empty"

Dr. LaBrat scoured the cells until he came upon one cell and said "I've found it, this is where Experiment 43 is held; Experiment 43 has escaped"

"That's the one who began chain smoking and wouldn't follow orders" the scientist replied, now almost fainting

"I think you forgot to add the chemical that stops you thinking for yourself to Experiment 43" Red explained

"We have CCTV footage from a year ago when we were adding the chemicals to the embryos" Dr. LaBrat said "lets go back up to my office and see it"

"Will we take the head scientist?" Red asked

"No, I think he just died" Dr. LaBrat said checking his pulse "he definitely has"

Dr. LaBrat led them back upstairs to his office and found the tape inside his cupboard. He pushed the tape in the machine, turned the television on and pressed play.

"Right, this is the bit where we added the chemical that speeds up growth, so I'll fast-forward past this" Dr. LaBrat explained

After a few seconds he said "Now we're onto the part where we began adding the chemical that stops them thinking for themselves."

They watched as the scientists added the chemical one by one, as they got onto forty-two, they suddenly stopped.

"Oh ignore that, they must've gone for lunch in the middle of adding the chemical" Dr. LaBrat explained fast-forwarding past half an hour of video staring at an empty laboratory. After fast-forwarding long enough they suddenly came back to the scientists adding the chemical. They watched the forty-third space on the tray, and they watched as they suddenly went straight past it.

"There!" Dr. LaBrat exclaimed turning the video off "there's the proof, I forgot to add the chemical that makes them stop thinking for themselves"

"So what will happen now?" Red asked

"Nothing, we just have to hope that the government doesn't realise there is an extra person that wasn't here before" Dr. LaBrat replied "lets just hope he doesn't cause any havoc"


	16. Tale 1 Chapter 15 Down on Luck

**Chapter 15 – Down on Luck**

_Claude Speed, Dominatrix, Metropolis City, 2030_

Claude pulled up in his futuristic red car in the car park of a large white building where a dozen scientists were standing about outside speaking to each other. This was the headquarters of Dr. LaBrat and his gang called the Scientists. Claude jumped out and walked over to the scientists standing around talking.

"Who are you?" one of the scientists asked Claude walking over to them

Claude answered with his full name

"Never mind your name, what do you want?" he asked

"I wish to see Dr. LaBrat" Claude replied

"Sure, he's in there" the scientist replied changing his attitude for some reason "but he doesn't talk to us regularly now, he might be doing an experiment so watch out"

Claude walked into the building along a hall painted in clerical white; he walked towards the office which had a sign reading 'Dr. LaBrat'. He waited for a minute, took a small breath and calmly knocked on the door. A voice from inside shouted "Come in".

Claude walked into the office; Dr. LaBrat was sitting on a chair facing Claude smoking a cigar, he was wearing a white lab coat, he had short wisps of grey hair and was receding in his hairline.

"Take a seat" Dr. LaBrat said "how may I help you?"

"I'd like some work" Claude replied

"How can I give you any work if I hardly have any myself, I don't have anything to sell" Dr. LaBrat replied

"Oh well, just trying to earn some money in this big city" Claude replied

"I wish I was like you, I remember a time there was, about thirty years ago I was much more ambitious, I used to look ambitious, I had long slender brown hair which I put into a pony tail, I made seven versions of my best-selling drug Equinox, as you may or may not know I worked for the Zaibatsu party when they were just called Zaibatsu Pharmaceuticals" Dr. LaBrat explained

"What happened?" Claude asked sympathising with him

"After winning the election in 2019 they refused to carry on selling pharmaceuticals, I tell you that wasn't the same Red I knew when he stopped selling pharmaceuticals; his life ambition was to work in pharmaceuticals, Red would've never stopped selling pharmaceuticals. The Red that was president was a greedy shadow of his former self" Dr. LaBrat explained

"I feel sorry for you" Claude replied

"Don't feel sorry for me, I'm just an old loser" Dr. LaBrat said "I just hope you're against the Zaibatsu party and never become one of them, I know the Russians get to them one day"

"Sorry, how do you mean?" Claude asked

"Well in 2004 Red Valdez asked me to clone forty-seven super-humans out of five people, Red and Uno and three criminals, Sweet Johnson the leader of the Grove Street families, Johnny Zoo the now leader of the Metropolis Yakuza and a Russian named Jerkov" Dr. LaBrat explained puffing on his cigar

"I didn't know Johnny Zoo had been involved with Zaibatsu" Claude said "but something tells me Jerkov has something to do with this Russian thing"

"You're correct, Jerkov was the only one who asked to be paid for being used, Red was a little unhappy but agreed anyway, Jerkov asked for one hundred thousand dollars in the next twenty-five years or he will arrive at his doorstep without warning and ask for the money" Dr. LaBrat said

"That would be last year" Claude said

"They must have forgot" Dr.LaBrat said still melancholy "but one day in the near future they're going to come and ask for their money and I know that they will take over this city with ease, there's only one city and the entire city will belong to them if they arrive, that's the only worry I have, but if they arrive I will die happy in my deathbed" Dr. LaBrat

"So what happened to these forty-seven super human clones?" Claude asked

"They haven't been seen for years, well when I say that the remaining forty-five haven't" Doctor LaBrat explained "number 43 escaped and was never seen again, and number 13 we sent out to find number 43, he was never seen again either so the only thing that could've happened was number 43 killed number 13, so as for the other forty-five they must be lurking somewhere inside Trey Welsh's building" Dr. LaBrat said

"I hope I never meet them" Claude replied

"I hope not either, they have no weaknesses and they can use samurai swords to their full ability" Dr. LaBrat said

"I hope we meet again, goodbye Dr. LaBrat" Claude said before leaving the room and walking back along the hall to his car.

He really felt sorry for this scientist; Dr. LaBrat had put all his trust in one man only for it all to be lost for no reason but Red's greediness. He must have decided to start this gang to get money to support his experiments and rebel against Zaibatsu. Claude drove away from the Scientists headquarters in his red futuristic car with a lump of sadness in his throat.


	17. Tale 2 Chapter 16 Near Miss

**Chapter 16 – Near Miss**

_Red Valdez, Darkel City, 2005_

Red jumped off the train at Darkel Station. Four years ago Darkel had paid him a visit and Red had promised him that one day he would visit him; he had not visited him once yet so today was the day. Red walked over to the taxi rank and got in a yellow taxi.

"To Warner please" Red said

The taxi driver pushed down on the accelerator.

"You're that guy who owns Zaibatsu pharmaceuticals, aren't you" the taxi driver asked in a friendly manner

"Yes" Red swiftly answered

"Isn't that a bit of a dangerous suburb for a businessman like you to visit, that suburb is overrun by the Warner Streets, one of the deadliest gangs in Darkel City" the taxi driver warned

"I'm not worried about them" Red replied

A few minutes later the taxi halted in the suburb of Warner. Red got out, paid the driver fifteen dollars and took a look around at the decay of Warner. The suburb was a ghetto, there were gangs of kids hanging around that mustn't have had much to do with their time. Weirdly, a brand new house was being built right in the centre of this ghetto. Red walked up to the large block of apartments. He took out the piece of paper with the address on it and the signature that Darkel had signed, he remembered him mentioning that there would be some guards at the bottom of the stairs. As he walked to the stairs he noticed there were no guards to be seen. Red knew there was something wrong immediately; Darkel had insisted that having guards down at the bottom was an everyday occurrence. Red ran up the stairs to the number mentioned on the piece of paper. The door to the apartment was lying wide open and looked as if the lock had been picked. Red walked in holding his Colt 45 aiming in front of him, he slowly walked down the hall and walked into the main room. As he walked in he saw a bloody sight. Darkel was lying in the hall in a pool of blood. He had been shot many times in the chest with what probably was an Uzi. Suddenly he began to speak hoarsely.

"R…r…red, h…h…help me" Darkel said "Get F…fido"

He stopped speaking and went into the eternal sleep of death. Red heard a voice behind him.

"What have you done man?" the voice said

Red turned around and noticed a face that seemed similar but different. He was aiming a Desert Eagle towards Red. He had blond hair and was wearing sports clothes

"I recognise you" Red said

"I'm the leader of the Streets, Imaru" the man replied

"I met your brother a few years ago, I think" Red said

"Yeah Emaru, he got burnt to death, this isn't your work is it" Imaru replied putting the Desert Eagle away

"No, someone by the name of Fido according to his last words" Red replied

"Fido, that f-cker, we haven't seen him for three years and he just comes in and shoots Darkel!" Imaru yelled

"Do you know anything about Fido?" Red asked

"Darkel bribed a policeman who gave him Fido's police file" Imaru replied "His name is unknown but sometimes goes by the alias of Claude, he grew up in Los Santos, before moving to Liberty City, he was then convicted of robbing a bank, he escaped from jail when the bridge the van was on blew up, he is suspected of working for the Leone family, Yakuza and the Capelli's. He hasn't been seen for three years."

"We have to get out of here, one of the neighbours has bound to have phoned the police when they heard the gun shots" Red replied

"You're right man, lets get out of here" Imaru said

They both ran out of the apartment and out of the block. As they ran over the road to the line of houses Imaru said "See that new house being built, that's where my brother was burnt".

Suddenly a dozen DCPD police cars swerved onto the street. Imaru opened the door of his house and they ran in. Imaru led him through the house and then into some sort of garage that led onto the back of the house, inside was a roofed red Banshee.

"You have a reputation to keep up, am I right?" Imaru asked

"Of some sort yes" Red replied

"Well here's a brand new red Banshee, one of my Streets hotwired it the other day, it can get you away from this mess" Imaru replied "we'll answer any questions the police ask us"

"Okay" Red agreed stepping into the red Banshee with a roof

"We thank you for coming to see Darkel; unfortunately you caught him at a bad moment, his death" Imaru said in a morbid tone

"Never mind" Red said pushing his foot down on the accelerator and driving off. Dozens of DCPD cars were screeching into the street at the back of Imaru's house as well. Suddenly one of them swerved straight in front of him and some policemen jumped out. One of them opened the door armed with a Colt 45 and yelled "Get out!"

"May I ask what is going on?" Red asked the policeman now handcuffing him

"No-one may leave this area" the policeman said "there has been a murder, we have to search everyone"

The policeman led him over to what looked like one of his superiors.

"We caught this guy leaving the area" the policeman said

"That guy just happens to be Red Valdez" the superior replied "a team has been searching his company for more than a year and found a lot of links to criminal activities, when we find him in the vicinity of a murder we must take action"

"Who is leading this team?" the policeman asked

"Eddie Nash, he only joined the DCPD a few weeks ago and already he's lowered crime in this city, he has worked for every police department in this country and every city he has joined he has lowered crime, he last worked for the San Fierro Police Department, Eddie Nash will be pleased that we now have a reason to arrest him" the superior replied

The policeman placed Red into his police car and drove him to the police headquarters. The superior had phoned Eddie Nash and told him the wonderful news. The police car parked in the underground parking of the police headquarters and Red was led up some stairs, through a few corridors and into a soundproof room, the door was bolted shut. A few minutes later a man walked into the room. He was a tough looking man with black hair, a receding hairline and he was going grey at the temples. He was wearing a brown suit and sunglasses. He dumped his sunglasses on the table.

"I do believe your Mr. Red Valdez, a half-Cuban leader of Zaibatsu Pharmaceuticals" the man stated

"Correct" Red said

"Well I'm Eddie Nash, the best god damn police officer in the whole of Darkel, if not the world, and I tell you, I am incorruptible, don't try and bribe me with your blood money, you can't get yourself out of this bullsh-t, the last person who tried that in San Fierro got his brains splattered across the wall, and any of his criminal friends complain they now had a headless corpse for a leader, they were too f-cking scared, scared I sent out some criminal mastermind to kill them too. I say I'm incorruptible, but I can be corrupt when I want to be, as long as it is defeating assholes like you." Eddie Nash replied

"I think you're mistaken, you're lack of working with your team from the DCPD is making you miss out vital information" Red replied

"Don't start your bullsh-t" Eddie said "I don't read a bedtime story at night, I read the files to do with this mission, I know more than all of the team put together, plus my mind is much more active than them"

"I'm sure anything you have read is mistaken" Red replied "I am a respectable businessman"

"Don't lie, asshole" Eddie replied "we searched your airline that you own; we found thousands of ounces of cocaine lying in the back of one of the planes flying to Mexico"

"That must be some smuggler we overlooked" Red said "it was my legal representative that managed to buy the airline"

"How about an air hostess that we searched and was found carrying cocaine on her, along with a suitcase full of it" Eddie said

"I can't keep track of every air hostess in my airline" Red replied

"Even one that lives in the same house as you" Eddie said

"We accepted her as a lodger, we didn't know she was smuggling cocaine" Red replied

"How were you f-cking found within yards from a murder scene, I'm incorruptible to him too you know" Eddie said

"I was paying him a visit, we were going to swap business tips, I had no idea he was a criminal" Red lied

There was a knock on the door and the superior policeman walked in.

"How is the interrogation going?" the superior asked

"Not very well, in fact I'm pretty pissed off, he is gave a reason for every suspicion, even if it lies" Eddie Nash said giving a dirty look at Red " we have to accept it and let him off because there is a lack of evidence"

The superior gave a sigh and said "one more fish put back in the water".

"This is not the end, far from it" Eddie Nash said "if you put one foot wrong we'll be on to you like a ton of bricks, the DCPD are watching you and the LCPD is watching you, now get the f-ck out of my sight"

Red walked out of the police headquarters and pulled out his mobile phone, he punched in some numbers. The phone rang a few times and someone answered.

"Hello" the voice said

"Uno, cease all criminal activities" Red replied

"Are you being serious?" Uno asked

"I am, I just got ruffled by the DCPD and Darkel is dead" Red replied

"There are bags of cocaine on a flight to Mexico City which is leaving in ten minutes" Uno said

"Well get them off!" Red yelled

"How am I meant to?" Uno asked

"Call up Misty?" Red suggested

"You call up Misty, you're the one that seems so paranoid about it, we ran one yesterday and we didn't get caught, what's so special about today?" Uno asked

"How do you know there's not a detective on the flight ready to search her while she's in the air?" Red asked

"You call her up; this is none of my business!" Uno yelled in anger

"You know that I could easily take you into my secret basement and fire you?" Red asked

"How do you know I've not planned the opposite?" Uno asked similarly

Red hung up in frustration and punched in Misty's number.

"Hello" Misty answered

"Misty, get rid of all the cocaine, we're ceasing criminal activities" Red yelled

"Impossible, the pilot is about to start the engines of the plane, the luggage cabin is locked" Misty replied "what has brought this on?"

"Misty, I don't want you to lie to me" Red said "but did the police stop you once?"

"The police have never stopped me" Misty said

"I got ruffled by the DCPD, they said they searched you" Red replied

"Unless…" Misty's voice halted

"Unless what?" Red asked in frustration

"Unless it was they American guys who claimed they were just checking I was the smuggler, they asked if I had cocaine, but they claimed they worked for the cocaine buyers" Misty replied

"Misty, you have to watch out, you nearly had me arrested, do this last job quick, then book a hotel as far away from my mansion as you can" Red replied

He quickly hung up, halted a taxi and was driven to Darkel International airport.


	18. Tale 1 Chapter 17 Bunch of Loonies

**Chapter 17 – Bunch of Loonies**

_Claude Speed, Arbo, Metropolis City, 2030_

Claude was happy with himself, he had become friendly with every gang in Metropolis City and now there was only one last gang to visit. Claude was loading his Uzi's while Lee was sitting on the couch in his vest, skin tanned as ever listening to the radio on the unvarnished table.

"Hello, welcome to Zaibatsu FM," the voice said Lazlow "here, we've got some great new music, I feel so young, well of course you may remember that I was cryogenically frozen for a few years, and I just got defrosted a couple of months back…"

Claude suddenly pulled out his Uzi and blasted a few rounds into the radio, Lee jumped in surprise and shock.

"What the f-ck are you doing?" Lee said "You f-cking broke my radio"

"You're listening to Zaibatsu propaganda" Claude said "that is who we're trying to fight against, there trying to grab your mind"

"Claude" Lee said walking up to him "this is not a support Zaibatsu programme, this is a music programme, by Lazlow, he doesn't support Zaibatsu himself; he just wants the money."

"I will not support any Zaibatsu programme!" Claude yelled

"So why didn't you just switch it over?" Lee shouted in anger

"I have to visit the last gang in Metropolis" Claude said changing the subject getting bored "Have any idea where the Loonies headquarters are?"

"I don't think I should tell you!" Lee shouted

"I'll buy you another f-cking radio man; just tell me where the Loonies headquarters are!" Claude shouted getting impatient

"The leader of the Loonies hangs out at the 'Fruitbat Club' in Fruitbat, his name's Elmo" Lee said

"See you later" Claude said walking away

_Claude Speed, Fruitbat, Metropolis City, 2030_

Claude's red futuristic car pulled up on the sidewalk beside the Fruitbat Club. A wooden sign painted lime green with dark red letters saying 'Fruitbat Club' stood on top of the stone stairs that seemed to lead down to a basement. Claude jumped out of the car and strolled down the steps towards a small red door where he could hear some loud dance music playing inside.

Claude pushed the door and it swung open. As soon as he stepped into the basement he could feel his breath escaping him, there was a massive dark room in front of him, all he could see was men in lime green clothing jumping to the rave music while perspiring and strobe lights flashing everywhere. The air was so smoky he stumbled past all the ravers on the dance floor and into a nearby wooden seat. Suddenly a dark haired man wearing a green suit and green trousers stumbled towards him and gave a grin.

"Come over here" the man in green shouted with a slur

As Claude stood up he slurred again.

"Come upstairs"

Claude followed him into a door way at the back of the room, the rave music had not changed its beat or tune the whole time. The door closed and the man in green led him upstairs and into a room painted green, he then shut the door of the room. However the window of the room was just above street level since the club was underground. Suddenly he pulled down his trousers.

"Ready then, girl" the, man said with a streak of madness

"What the f-ck are you on?" Claude shouted jumping back in disgust

"You're not one of the Downtown Sector girls? What sort of girl are you then? Where did you come from" the guy slurred pulling his trousers up

"I'm not a girl, I'm a man!" Claude shouted

"Are you?" the man in green slurred walking closely up to his face, when he was about an inch away Claude could smell alcohol on his breath.

"You're the guy who's working for me, aren't you?" the man asked

"Yeah" Claude lied

"Could you do a job for me this minute?" the guy asked

"Yeah, what was your name again?" Claude asked

"You've forgotten my name already, my god how can you forget that, nobody forgets their name, hey loonie!" he shouted "what is my name again?"

"Your name's Elmo" a voice answered from the hall.

"Elmo it is!" Elmo said

"Can I ask what you are on?" Claude asked feeling slightly weirded out by this guy

"Diazepam, SPANK, LSD, beer, whatever was in the kitchen fridge this morning" Elmo slurred again

"That'll explain" Claude muttered under his breath

"Sorry?" Elmo asked still grinning

"What job do I have to do, and most importantly what do I get paid?" Claude asked

"One of my guys that lives just on the outer deserts of Metropolis City says a policeman warned him of a drug raid, he wanted me to keep watch but I have something else important to do here" Elmo said

"What have you to do that is important?" Claude asked sarcastically

"I don't know, I'll pay you one thousand dollars if you'll make sure no police cars pull up beside his…" Elmo said. As he finished his last word he collapsed to the ground.

"Is that it then?" Claude asked Elmo now in a coma "I don't get a map then?"

Claude suddenly noticed a map lying on a table in the room. Claude picked it up and noticed a large red 'X' scrawled onto the map right to the North of Metropolis City where the desert was, which was marked 'Shack'. Claude decided to jump straight out of the window instead of going through the smoky, sweaty basement. He opened the window and jumped straight onto the ground. He opened the scissor doors of the red car and jumped in.

"What a bunch of loonies!" he muttered to himself turning the key and pushing his foot down on the accelerator. After a few minutes going north he neared north of the city where the desert was that surrounded Metropolis. He neared the dry desert and parked the car where the red 'X' was scrawled on his map. There was a wooden shack in the middle of the desert, overlooking was the skyline of the massive Metropolis City.

Claude stepped up to the door and gave a swift knock. He stood for a minute and as he began to walk away in frustration he heard a massive bang. Splinters of wood travelled in the lifeless air. There was now a massive jagged hole in the wooden door. The shot had definitely been shot by a double barrelled shotgun, Claude could tell by the sound and amount of splintered wood lying all over the ground. Suddenly the door was kicked open and Claude saw a face he swore he had seen before somewhere. He was wearing a green vest with faded jeans.

"Who the f-ck are you?" the man asked

The man had a distinct English accent and had grey hair and was significantly bald at the temples. Claude had no idea from what part, but he also recognised the accent.

"Hey, I work for Elmo! I work for Elmo!" Claude shouted holding up his hands

"You work for Elmo, man, that's f-cking good, I'm nearly having an 'eart attack 'ere… f-ck me" the man ranted "S'pose you better come in, you bastard"

Claude stumbled into the tiny shack and he saw posters sprawled about the peeling walls.

"I recognise you from somewhere" Claude said knowing he was right

"You do! I'm f-cking Maccer man!" Maccer shouted in glee that Claude recognised him, although Claude was sure he was drugged up to the eyeballs "okay I'm going a f-cking little grey man, hey maybe you would recognise me with my f-cking Maccer hat on!"

Maccer opened a drawer on a rickety wooden table, pulled it out and placed it over his head.

Claude punched his hand and said "Yeah! You were in 'The Gurning Chimps.' Whatever happened to your band?"

"I f-cking don't know, man, we were a f-cking great band, just drifted apart I guess, man I'm f-cking delighted you remember us" Maccer said

"My name is Claude, by the way" Claude replied

Suddenly they heard a loud shout outside.

"DROP YOUR WEAPONS NOW! THIS IS THE ZPF!" the voice shouted

"F-cking duck Claude" Maccer said in a whisper, still managing to curse

Maccer reached for his shotgun and Claude pulled out his twin Uzis.

They both ducked.

"Those f-ckers won't get this loonie alive!" Maccer shouted shuffling towards the side of the doorway. These policemen were more ruthless than Claude knew. The wooden door was suddenly kicked in and two policemen ran in. Claude jumped up and was ready to pump the two policemen full of lead when he suddenly recognised the policeman to his right. The face and eyes were familiar, and his beard he remembered from what seemed such a long time ago.

"Yo, put your guns down homie or I blow you to pieces!" he shouted

Claude couldn't believe that his voice fit with the identity he knew so long ago.

"Sanchez!" Claude whispered to himself in disbelief, taking a step back in shock.


	19. Tale 2 Chapter 18 The Promise

**Chapter 18 – The Promise**

_Red Valdez, Liberty City, 2005_

"How dare that f-cker Eddie Nash try and stop me, I ought to sue him and get all my money I'm losing, back" Red said punching the table with his fist

"Um Red, the money was illegal" Uno said disbelieving Red's stupidity

Red had arrived back at his mansion in Liberty City and was now ranting to Uno about his ordeal with Eddie Nash.

"I can't believe this country; I have had to cut all dealings with Misty and any criminal activity" Red said angrily

"So you're angry at this country Red, huh" Uno laughed "you should become a politician"

Uno expected a laugh from Red but he had never seen Red so serious.

"A politician huh" Red thought hard for a moment "a politician, Uno you're right"

"No Red, it was only a joke" Uno said

"But Uno you're right, I could be a politician!" Red shouted "My dream was always to be a businessman in pharmaceuticals, it was, but Uno, you're correct, I think being a politician is the next step!"

"Red, I don't think it's an option, come on, it was a joke" Uno replied

"Why not? I think it's a great idea, Uno" Red said now overly impressed with the idea

"Red, I don't think Dr. LaBrat will be impressed" Uno said

"Nonsense Uno, Dr. LaBrat will be delighted" Red replied

"He's putting a brave face on things Red, don't you get it, he's into pharmaceuticals" Uno tried to explain to Red

"So what if he's into pharmaceuticals?" Red asked

"He thinks you're turning your back on the pharmaceuticals business" Uno said "since you now own the media and the airlines"

"So what's his problem, if the pharmaceuticals business doesn't work out he'll still get a job somewhere in my empire" Red said annoyed by the situation

"But he feels pharmaceuticals… is well his job, and he doesn't want to lose it"

"How do you know all this, all business conversations are supposed to be approved by me, Uno!" Red said now angry

"This was years ago, I couldn't tell you Red, I just couldn't" Uno said "we need to keep up with the pharmaceuticals; Dr. LaBrat is a good scientist"

"Who said I wasn't keeping up with the pharmaceuticals?" Red said still shouting "it is essential I keep up with them in fact, my cloning and cryogenic freezing projects are essential"

"All you need to do is assure Dr. LaBrat that his job is safe, and I would give up the politician idea, we're fine as it is"

Red was suddenly furious.

"F-CK YOU, UNO!" Red shouted. He halted a minute "Uno, I will not have you or a f-cking scientist halting my business opportunities, I think you should keep to the legal side, I run Zaibatsu, not you"

"Red, I think you're forgetting something, I helped set up this company as much as you did, I had the idea of talking over Love Media just at the right time, I had the idea of gaining extra money through the airlines" Uno shouted

"So what's stopping you expanding Zaibatsu now?" Red asked

"Because I care about this man, he's not just a scientist Red, he has provided the framework for the entire Zaibatsu Corporation" Uno said "so if he was wants re-assurance of his job position I think you should give it to him"

"Okay Uno, I will give it to him, but I will not halt the expansion of Zaibatsu just for him, are we agreed?" Red said in a sinister soft voice in his thick Cuban accent

"Agreed, but you do it now!" Uno said

"Okay, I can do that Uno, let's go and see him" Red said. Red and Uno headed for the door of the mansion and outside to the red Kuruma in the driveway.

"I'm delighted Red" Dr. LaBrat said "are you certain, I would do anything for Zaibatsu Pharmaceuticals, you know that"

"Well doctor, you know I appreciate the work you do, and I'm delighted especially with your work on the cryogenic and cloning project."

"We still haven't found Experiment 43 I'm afraid, we have sent out Experiment 13 to find him though" Dr. LaBrat uttered

"Great, I'm sure we'll catch up with him somewhere" Red said "anyway, I must get going, keep it up"

Red and Uno walked out the building and into the car park. Red opened the door of the red Kuruma and stepped in.

"I really think you should get that politician idea out of your head, Red" Uno uttered

"Why?" Red questioned

"I'm not sure anyone would accept a politician with a scar" Uno uttered


	20. Tale 1 Chapter 19 In The Desert

**Chapter 19 – In The Desert**

_Claude Speed, Metropolis Desert, Metropolis City, 2030_

"Officer Diaz Sanchez to you!" he shouted "Now surrender, homies!"

"You don't have a first name Sanchez, you're just Sanchez!" Claude shouted

"Shoot them f-cking up, Claude" Maccer shouted still standing at the side with his hands up

"I can't Maccer, I know this man" Claude replied to Maccer "Sanchez, I was your friend, what has happened to you?"

"What ya talking about, homie, I've never met ya in my life, let us take them to the police headquarters!"

Claude dropped the twin Uzi's, he could not fight his old friend, he would have to surrender, find out how this had happened to Sanchez and then find out how to escape.

"Wise choice" the other policeman said responding to Claude's surrender. The policeman walked over to Claude and handcuffed his hands behind his back.

He had short dark hair and he had a goatee beard. He looked particularly muscular.

"Are you f-cking mad Claude?" Maccer shouted being handcuffed by Sanchez

"Sorry Maccer, it had to be done" Claude apologised

The policeman with the goatee beard suddenly took out his walkie talkie and said "Officer Roy MacNeil here, the place is swimming with drugs, looks like a Loonie to me, same old gang that causes trouble down in Vice"

The policemen lead them into the back of the police car. MacNeil locked Claude's door using the inside lock and jumped into the driver's seat. Sanchez locked Maccer's door when Maccer shouted in his thick Mancunian accent "Hey, will one of you bastards give me a cigarette!"

Sanchez pulled out a cigarette and threw it at him.

"Enjoy it, homie" Sanchez said sarcastically with a smirk. Sanchez shut the door and jumped into the passenger seat beside Officer MacNeil. Officer MacNeil pressed his foot on the accelerator and they watched as the desert rolled past them.

"So Sanchez" Claude began "what happened to you then?"

"Look homie, I have never met you before in my life, I'm a ZPF officer!" Sanchez shouted

"Okay then, Officer Diaz Sanchez, that's what you think" Claude finished closing the subject

Suddenly there was a large sound of a smash and everyone gave a yell as Roy MacNeil lost control of the vehicle and smashed into a tree by the side of the desert road. The entire left side of the police car doors was embedded with the tree.

"Let's get the f-ck out of here Claude" Maccer shouted

"Don't move homies, I'm armed" Sanchez shouted

Sanchez reached for his Colt 45 but his gun was nowhere to be seen. Due to the commotion the gun had been thrown out of his pocket and was now lying beneath Claude's feet. Claude could not reach it because of the handcuffs. Another smash was heard as Maccer broke the back window with his handcuffs.

"Let's get away from these bastards!" Maccer shouted heading for the window.

"Shoot them MacNeil" Sanchez shouted

MacNeil pulled out his Colt 45 and aimed for Claude. Maccer had jumped headfirst out of the car.

"Shoot him, homie!" Sanchez shouted

Claude clambered out of the window not daring to look behind him. Sanchez had tried to make a grab for him but had missed. Claude was now out of the car. He saw Maccer far ahead of him and he followed him, running as fast as he could. Maccer headed behind a wall of some shop a short distance away from the car.

"We're f-cking lucky, mate!" Maccer whispered to Claude

"We are lucky, Maccer, we have to get out of here" Claude said

"We've got to get these f-cking cuffs off man" Macce replied

They began to run away from the wall of the store. Until they saw the store was a hardware store. They ran in and hoped the two policemen had not seen them. Maccer headed for the back of the shop towards the metal saws.

"Claude, hold the bastard in your mouth!" Maccer shouted

Claude reached for the metal saw with his mouth and positioned it upwards just beside Maccer's handcuffs. Maccer furiously pulled his handcuffed hands over the metal saw. After a few good minutes Maccer was delighted when the chain of his handcuffs broke away and he pulled his hands forward. Maccer grabbed the saw and quickly broke the chain of Claude's handcuffs. They ran swiftly to the door and Maccer apologised to the owner of the store for the interruption. They ran as far as they could away from the store. In the distance they could see Officer Sanchez and Officer MacNeil had only just struggled out of the crashed mangled car. Maccer spied a rusty brown Patriot parked by the side of the road. He wasted no time and smashed the window in, pushed the lock up and opened the door. Jumping in, he hotwired the car and Claude climbed in. Maccer pushed down the accelerator and headed back for his desert shack.

"I'll tell you something, one of them bastards wasn't a real policeman, I'm sure of it" Maccer said

"Do you mean Sanchez?" Claude asked

"Why do you keep f-cking mentioning him?" Maccer asked

"He was my friend Maccer" Claude replied "he has somehow lost his memory, and I'm sure Zaibatsu are behind it, but it's the same person"

"I'm not talking about that one man, I mean the other one" Maccer replied

"Who MacNeil? I didn't know him" Claude said in shock

"I have seen plenty of f-cking policemen shooting before, and I've never seen one who hesitates in shooting two escaping prisoners" Maccer explained

"Maybe the gun jammed?" Claude said offering an explanation

"No, he didn't even get to pressing the trigger man" Maccer said "there's something up with that MacNeil"

The Patriot pulled up beside Maccer's desert shack.

"We can't stay 'ere for long Claude" Maccer said "this place will be swarming with ZPF soon"

"I think I'll go home now" Claude replied walking to his red futuristic car"

"Are you not going to Elmo to get paid?" Maccer asked

"I've had enough for one day, Maccer" Claude replied

The red car pulled into the driveway of Lee's house and a minute later Claude burst through the door.

"Lee" Claude shouted "you won't believe who I saw!"

Lee looked in shock, but he had been the same before Claude announced the news.

"Who?" Lee asked disinterested

"Sanchez" Claude said

"Claude I have something to tell you" Lee asked

"What is it?" Claude asked now worried

"There is a ship full of Russians heading for the shore" Lee replied

Claude had to take a step back to comprehend what Lee was saying.


	21. Tale 2 Chapter 20 Meet Miles

**Chapter 20 – Meet Miles**

_Red Valdez, Momma's Restaurant, Liberty City, 2007_

Momma's Restaurant had shut its doors, despite being late afternoon and the surrounding streets were very confused why a top quality Italian restaurant was shut at this time of day. Watching from behind the window stood a now older looking Toni Cipriani.

"Everybody's gonna be asking why this is closed, they better make it quick, they better eat their meals and get the f-ck out of here." Toni said to himself

Suddenly through the back of the restaurant came the scarred, white suited Red Valdez.

"Toni Cipriani." Red Valdez greeted him

"Hey Red, what exactly is going to be happening?" Toni asked "you asked me to shut the restaurant for two hours."

"Don't worry, I'll repay your lost expenses." Red replied

"So tell me what's going on?" Toni asked "before my ma gets angry with you."

"Okay, I'm having a special meeting with someone extremely special." Red replied

"Who exactly is it?" Toni asked

"The President of the United States, Miles O'Donovan." Red answered

"What the…!" Toni exclaimed in surprise "So you're expecting nobody to Miles is missing from the White House and is in Liberty City."

"You'll be surprised how little anyone knows when the president isn't at the White House" Red replied "everyone there covers up for it."

"Come on, every f-cking person is going to recognise him!" Toni exclaimed

"Not when he's completely disguised and is flying by business class" Red said beginning to walk to a seat beside the window of the restaurant "on my airline, Zaibatsu Air."

"You haven't brought your lawyer, I guess there's no legal matters." Toni realised

"I've not told Uno, he completely hates the idea of me getting into politics." Red explained

Suddenly someone familiar walked through the door of the diner. The President of the United States was standing in front of them.

"I can't believe it, that's really you, Miles." Toni exclaimed

"Please call me Miles, Toni, and don't pretend we're strangers, I only stopped being the major of Liberty City five years ago, I used to eat here all the time." Miles began

"Well the spaghetti has got a little better." Toni replied

"Good." Miles replied humorously

"What happened, Miles?" Toni asked

"What do you mean?" Miles asked curiously

"What happened for you to get voted out so suddenly? You were one of Liberty City's most popular mayors." Toni asked

"It's quite a long story, Toni." Miles replied

"Well give me a shortened version of it." Toni asked

"Okay" Miles replied "but what I say stays in here, I do not want people to remember this, if it gets out it may risk my presidency."

"My mouth is closed." Toni replied

"Okay, you may remember way back in 2002 there was a string of murders all over America, it was a scary time for the public, there were murders in Liberty, Shirago, Darkel, Vice, Los Santos and Carcer, every city's police force was going crazy, it was worse than that Starkweather sh-t the year before, the public were begging for more security from the LCPD, however I had secret sources, I f-cking knew who was involved, it was an order personally from Darkel, it was a hit on the Capelli gang, but of course the public wouldn't know that, I knew there would be no more hits." Miles explained

"So what happened?" Red asked

"Well back then I was selected by the Leone Family Mafia to run Liberty, however there were links between Darkel and the Leone's, so what could I do? I feared for my life, if I increased security the Leone's who knew about it, would think I wanted Darkel caught, if I didn't there was a chance of public reaction, I of course refused to increase security, unfortunately due to all the trouble that was going on, I forgot that we were only a week away from the mayor election, I lost." Miles finished, then turned to Red awkwardly "so Red, how may I help you?" Miles asked taking a seat at a table near the window.

"I'll go make some pasta." Toni excused himself

"Well Miles, sad story you had there." Red sympathised

"I don't regret it one bit." Miles replied

"Miles, you are an inspiration to me, I wish to join your party." Red rushed his point

"Well I think I shall Red, what else would add more popularity to the party than one of the top businessmen in America" Miles added "especially with the election next year."

"Who are you running against?" Red asked

"You won't believe it, I am going to walk away with this election, do you remember Arnold Steelone?" Miles asked with a smirk

"Arnold Steelone, yeah, the actor that was in Top Down City and Total Rehab." Red remembered

Miles shook his head knowingly.

"No way, you're facing an actor; I didn't even know he was a politician now." Red replied

"Yeah, he's been the governor of San Andreas for a few years" Miles explained "still, I'm pretty confident I'll walk away with it."

"So I can join?" Red asked

"Why of course, Red." Miles replied

"You don't know what this means to me, thank you very much" Red replied in tears of happiness, flowing over his scar on his cheek. Miles stood up and headed for the door.

"And Miles" Red said causing Miles to turn his head "good luck in the elections next year."


	22. Tale 1 Chapter 21 The Meeting

**Chapter 21 – The Meeting**

_Claude Speed_, _Arbo, Metropolis City, 2030_

"What do you mean?" Claude asked

"There are f-cking hundreds of Russians heading towards Metropolis City" Lee rephrased

"Wait a minute, how do you know this?" Claude asked

"Every gang in this city has been trying to contact you" Lee replied

Claude then spied the cell phone on the table which he had forgotten to take with him.

"All the gangs in Metropolis have organised a meeting, we have to get down to the docks!" Lee said

"_All_ of the gangs! What, even the Rednecks, it will be a war zone, I'm not going down there!" Claude replied

"Claude, they have to settle their difference or the entire Zaibatsu government, never mind all the gangs will be taken over by the Russian Mafia" Lee replied "and anyway, it's only the leaders that are going to be at the meeting, although there will be hundreds of gang members outside"

"Why haven't Zaibatsu taken a notice of this?" Claude asked

"Because only one of the gangs noticed and they refused to tell the Zaibatsu government" Lee answered

"Where are the docks?" Claude asked

"In the Industrial Sector" Lee replied "I'll drive you there"

_Metropolis Docks, Industrial Sector, Metropolis City, 2030_

The red futuristic car pulled up in the docks. The docks were a wide bleak emptiness where here and there wooden ships were randomly spread about the dock. Hundreds of gang members were standing about waiting for all the gang leaders' decision.

"I can't see any Russians" Claude noticed

"They're a few miles away, someone noticed them vaguely with their sniper rifle aim, they could see the flag of the Russian Mafia" Lee replied "they've decided to meet in an old warehouse, there it is there" Lee pointed to the warehouse.

They strolled into the warehouse where the leaders of the gangs of Metropolis City were sitting on old rickety wooden chairs. To their left sat Johnny Zoo the leader of the Yakuza, he was dressed in a black tracksuit, he had brought along his Samurai sword, probably for fear of another incident like the one that had happened at the failed treaty signing. To the right of him clockwise sat the Triad leader Wu Zi Mu dressed completely in white with long white hair and a white beard as Claude remembered him. Next to him, clockwise sat the leader of the Scientists, Dr. LaBrat in his white scientist garb, smoking a cigar, similar to what he was doing when he met him the first time. Next to him sat Elmo, the leader of the Loonies who he had just done work for. When he had met him he was completely out of it but somehow he had completely cleared up just like that, now the only thing unusual about him was the horrible lime green suit. To his right sat a young Indian man in a black suit whom Claude had never met before, he assumed this was the leader of the Krishna's Sunbeam's representative. Finally to his right sat Billy Bob Bean, the racist leader of the Rednecks, chewing gum between his broken teeth.

Claude wasted no time and stood in the middle of the room between all of the gang leaders as if some type of city leader.

"Hello, unfortunately we'll have to make this a quick meeting because there are hundreds of Russians heading for our shores armed to the teeth with AK's." Claude began

"Claude, I can't believe this has happened, I just arrived back from Neo-Tokyo to find my gang may be no more, because of these troublesome Russians" Johnny Zoo pointed out

"Yes Johnny Zoo, but to get through this all of you need to put away your petty differences, you may all know I have worked for each one of you recently, but I will tell you now, I have absolutely no loyalty to any gang, I have even did missions against other gangs here, but I will help any of you if you stick together, and halt another event like the incident at the treaty, Mr. Bob Bean" Claude continued

"Whatcha talkin' 'bout, I never done nothin' at that meeting" Billy Bob Bean replied "I need some help from ya anyway, bud, I need you to find out who burned my family to ashes and gone stole ma diamon's"

"I take this following event as a test" Claude continued ignoring him "this is a test to see how strong we can be against the Zaibatsu government, if we can defeat the Russians we can defeat the government"

"Hang on" Elmo suddenly stood up "that is a pretty tall order, fighting the Russians is bad enough but how are we going to defeat an entire government"

"Sit down, Elmo" Wu Zi demanded "let Claude say what he has to say"

"You can't even see, you blind bastard!" Elmo shouted

"Elmo, if you do not sit down, Lee will shoot you" Claude demanded

Elmo sat back down in frustration.

"We may have to put some of your gangs on different assignments against the Zaibatsu government" Claude continued "but it will all go towards the same cause"

"Mr. Speed is it" the Indian man spoke out "let me introduce myself, my name is Moonbeam, I am Sunbeam's son, I came here for discussion on how to deal with the Russians, why are we suddenly on discussion on how to deal with the government"

"Because we will deal with it exactly the same" Claude replied

"This is far too risky!" Elmo shouted disagreeing with Claude

"So you'd prefer to live the exact same as we live now" Johnny Zoo replied "you'd prefer to live prisoner to the Zaibatsu party, you'd prefer we lived the way they tell us, you know what Elmo, I am glad someone in this city has plucked up the courage to rebel against this, so you may say this is a risk, but if we do not take this risk now, we never will"

"I agree, Mr. Zoo" Wu Zi agreed "and I will tell you, if this alliance between all the gangs doesn't work, there certainly is an alliance between the Yakuza and the Triads"

"I think we should start somewhere" Johnny Zoo continued "we should start by taking off these ridiculous badges"

One by one they all took their badges off, until the only one left with a badge on was Elmo. Elmo stood up and began to make a point.

"I can't believe you guys, you're heads of the gangs of Metropolis and you're listening to this seventeen year old prick, who doesn't know one f-cking thing about how this city works!" Elmo shouted

Suddenly Johnny Zoo jumped up from his seat, grabbed Elmo by the cuff of his lime green suit, held him up and threw his down onto the seat. The seat broke on impact into tiny splintered pieces. Elmo stayed down in shock. Johnny Zoo took a seat.

"Now, how are we going to deal with this Russian attack?" Claude began "do you have a communication link to all of you gangs"

Dr. LaBrat suddenly gave out a snigger then took another puff from his cigar.

"What are you laughing at?" Johnny Zoo asked him sarcastically

"I knew this day would happen" Dr. LaBrat replied "you have heard of irony Mr. Zoo, I have known for twenty-five years that this was going to happen, and now we're worrying about what damage they'll do at the last minute, and this is all because of Red Valdez, all because he lost interest in pharmaceuticals, all because he forgot about one measly payment" he laughed again "if I'm slaughtered mercilessly I'll die happy"

A brief silence filled the room until the silence was interrupted.

"Can I put myself up front, bud" Billy Bob Bean said "I wanna shoot myself a few of them coons!"

"Yeah, sure" Claude replied

"I think it is time we check the ships location" Johnny Zoo remembered

They all walked outside the warehouse one by one. The ship full of Russians was only seconds away from the docks. All of the gang leaders ran over to their gang members to instruct them of what to do. After around a minute they had decided tactics. The Rednecks had decided to place themselves fairly close to the ship armed with double-barrelled shotguns. The Triads would use Uzi's behind them. The Yakuza would be behind them and some would slice any the Triads had missed with samurai swords and some would fire at them with Colt 45's. The Krishna's would be behind them providing support to the Yakuza with Uzi's and reluctantly the Loonies were behind them armed with Desert Eagles. The Scientist's had climbed up on the roof and would snipe any of the Russians with sniper rifle's.

"Lee, I have a better idea" Claude informed him

The ship docked into the docks. A hundred Russians could be seen on the top deck, some of them jumped from afar down onto the ground of the dock from the deck. They were all wearing black suits and they were all armed with AK47's. Billy Bob Bean and around twenty rednecks ran towards them armed with shotguns and pumped the oncoming Russians with lead as they ran. The surviving oncoming Russians reacted and sprayed them with a round of bullets from their AK47's. Seven rednecks were picked off. The Triads shot a couple of Russians from behind them. Suddenly the door of the Russian ship opened and a hundred Russian gangsters came out one by one, all armed. Right at the end was the leader of the Russians, Jerkov.

"They want to fight with me, they will get a fight!" Jerkov shouted to his gangsters in Russian "Kill them!"

The twenty Russians who were in front suddenly sprayed all of the Rednecks in a hail of bullets, some even hitting the Triads behind them. There was only one Redneck left which was Billy Bob Bean, who was extremely injured. He had been shot in the legs and arms.

"Please spare ma soul, bud" Billy began through a wail of tears "I've always liked them Russians maself, c'mon bud, don't…"

A Russian gangster suddenly brought out his Desert Eagle, aimed for the redneck's head and blasted a bullet blowing his head clean off, crimson blood splatterimg everywhere, including all over the Russian's suit. The Triads fired at them. The Triads had a lot more gangsters. They had around fifty gangsters with an Uzi in each hand. Around ten Yakuza rushed through and jumped into the crowd of Russians slicing them. It wasn't long before bloody headless corpses of Russians were falling to the ground and limbs were sprawled in the midst of battle. From the roof of the warehouse the twenty Scientists were sniping off as many Russians as were possible to aim.

Suddenly the battle was halted when they heard the noise of a motorbike heading for the midst of battle. All of the gangsters began jumping aside to avoid getting hit. The yellow Sanchez braked just in front of the gang of Russians, braking on a head that had been sliced off by a Yakuza samurai. The head splattered into a crimson mush. The man on the bike was Claude. Claude stepped off the bike, pulled out a Colt 45 and walked through the crowd of Russians. The Russians gasped in wonder as he stepped in front of Jerkov. Jerkov had short black hair and was also wearing a large black suit. His face was covered in scars which showed he had been in a few battles before.

"Hello Jerkov" Claude remarked

"Shall I shoot him?" a Russian gangster asked Jerkov in Russian

"Nyet" Jerkov responded

There was an icy silence as Jerkov's battle snarl turned into a psychopathic sneer. Jerkov suddenly raised his fist and whacked Claude square in the face. Claude fell backwards to the ground. Jerkov brought out a Desert Eagle and aimed it to his head and gave him two firm kicks to his left leg.

"Where is he!" Jerkov shouted in English, still kicking him "tell me where he is or I'll blow your head off!"

"Who?" Claude asked in confusion

Jerkov suddenly picked him up by the cuff of his shirt, snarled at him and threw him back down with him stocky arms.

"Don't try to fool me!" Jerkov shouted kicking him in the arm "I know who you are, you are fighting for Red Valdez, I know he's the president now, don't try to fool me!"

"He's dead!" Claude shouted at him

"You're lying" Jerkov shouted in anger "You're f-cking lying!" Jerkov kicked him again

"I'm not, he died five years ago, don't you read a paper!" Claude replied

Jerkov suddenly lost his anger and gave a chuckle.

"You make joke, huh" Jerkov responded laughing again "so you say he dead, you still represent him, so you pay, you pay, is that a deal!"

"We don't represent him, we came here because we didn't want to be invaded by you" Claude replied standing up

"You think we come here to invade?" Jerkov asked

"Why else would you bring a hundred Russians armed to the teeth with AK's?" Claude asked

"In case there was a blood bath as we came into dock" Jerkov replied "we are always careful"

"Will you help us Jerkov?" Claude asked "will you help us overthrow this government, then you will get your revenge, plus… more money than you came for"

"What is your name?" Jerkov asked

"Claude Speed" Claude answered

"Okay Mr. Speed" Jerkov shook his hand "we call this a deal, huh"

"Deal" Claude responded

Jerkov ordered all of the Russians back onto the ship and Claude signalled to all the gangs that the battle was over. Lee came running over to Claude.

"Claude" Lee began out of breath "did you do it!"

"Yep" Claude replied

"Hey, what did you say about Sanchez earlier?" Lee asked in forgetfulness

"Oh that" Claude responded since he had forgot about that.


End file.
